I was happy when I read about our economic growth rate as a nation; this is some improvement, I thought. But, not until it came to my consciousness that our economic growth does not equate to economic development; people tend to mistake the former for the latter.
Economic growth, simply put, is an increase in national income and national output i.e. an increase in the Gross Domestic Output. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the GDP expanded by 6.18 per cent in the second quarter of 2013. Nigeria's inflationary rate dropped to eight per cent in September 2013 due to the "lower food prices." The agricultural sector is the largest in the economy believed to make up about 42 per cent of the GDP.
However, the figures and statistical data are endless. It seems the nation's economy is only growing on paper: The poverty rate is increasing; our social amenities are still crawling compared to the country's population; and our educational system is nothing to write home about. We are not seeing much effect of the supposed growth.
Economic growth is just an indication; it tells us that the government has the resources and can therefore take care of its citizens. i.e. the country is able to develop its economy and make life easy for citizens. Some of the benefits of economic growth are improved public services such as health, education, reduction of unemployment and poverty. The released figures of the economic growth in Nigeria simply mean the government has the capacity to make changes to "whatever problem" we are facing.
The economy is growing, good but the question is, are the people growing with it? Are the standard and cost of living improving? It is obvious our economic growth is as a result of our natural resources, policies and the hard-working Nigerian citizens. We are growing the economy but government is not developing it in return.
So, I ask, if our economy is growing at this rate, what then is government doing with the money and other forms of useful resources being generated? Over 70 per cent of our annual budget is spent on recurrent expenditure (salaries, maintenance, welfare etc.) Recurrent expenditure simply means we will keep spending that money on a yearly basis while the capital expenditure that is meant to be the foundation for a better Nigeria is going down yearly. Nigeria will not generate employment for the youths if government is not providing the structures and industries where the youths will work. Have you ever asked why unemployment rate is high in Nigeria? The reason is because there are not enough industries for the youths to work; no jobs. There are no jobs because government is spending so much on salaries and earnings of workers rather than using the money on creating social amenities, subsidising production, improving our educational sector and so on.
Given the above, one should not be surprised at the rate at which poverty is growing; the platform we need for human survival at little or no costs is almost absent thereby rendering whatever it is the government is doing useless.The foundations need to be looked into. Education is one of those foundations; an economy with a large amount of educated citizens is a liberated one with minimal dependence on the government. Proper education diversifies skills and literacy; it reduces dependency on the government and fights poverty. Incidentally, most students go to school to get a degree instead of getting educated.
We have complained about our poor state of industries; and the industries continue to remain so because there are inadequate social infrastructure to support production. That is why we remain one of the largest importers in Africa; importing what we have the capacity to produce.
To an average Nigerian, the economy is only growing when life gets better and the cost of living is reduced; not when figures and data are being released almost every quarter without anything to show. The government is building on a shaky foundation; whatever it is that is being built is coming down. If due attention is not given to the foundation on which the nation is being built, then the labour of our heroes past might have been in vain.
Adeyemi Olutoye
adeyemiolutoye@gmail.com
