Three Major Problems in Nigeria - Essay Example

Three Major Problems in Nigeria Developing countries face various problems leading to slow economic growth and other tribulations. It is the same problems, which lead to unemployment raising social issues, as well as sophisticated settlements. In as much as different countries employ varied strategies to counter the problems, they remain dominant as the countries lack proficient mechanisms. Majority of developing countries depend on developed countries a factor, which not only slows development, but also exploit the available resources in the countries. Nigeria is one developing country, which faces diverse problems; however, the paper attempts to analyze three crucial problems including increasing inflation rate, rising living standard, as well as political instability. Political instability Most African countries have a characteristic of political instability. This underscores the depth of development leaving people midst abundant resources with little development. In the past, many years, stagnation remains evident among many African countries due to political instability creating a rising tide of poverty, poor infrastructure and decaying of public utilities (Mundt & Aborisade, 2004). Nigeria gets described by scholars as an unfinished state, and a truculent African disaster, this is because of the abundant natural resources present in the country, which instead of improving the economic condition of the country, has propelled the vicious cycle of poverty (Kay & Mazen, 2012). Nigeria is rich with enormous oil resources that warrant it a name of a giant African country. On the contrary, it remains a minute country due to the political instability of parochial leadership, which considers personal survival rather that national development. Nigeria suffered a setback and was brought down into its knees by 20 years of corrupt military and brutal rule. The rule left power in the hands of powerful political bosses also called godfathers with vast patronage of the country. They viewed the country primarily through the lens of the personal fortification, amassing wealth for developing personal interest. The attempt to bring democratic consolidation got hampered by Nigeria political gladiators who used the slightest opportunity in power for personal cult. Political instability in Nigeria; therefore caused harm, as people vied to control vast spoils of office. This is a trend, which gave forth to undeserving leaders, who collected wealth grabbing everything they could lay their hands. In Nigeria, the centralized economic as well as political structure comprised of individual and the military, which controlled substantial parts of the country endorsed with resources (Adeseyoju, 2006). The political instability led to a major segment of Nigerian falling into poverty. According to research, the poor leadership forced 70% of people to fall into abject poverty. The brazen watch for the rule of law also made matters worse, as only people with power and influence had the ability to access facilities. It is a country, which made distant the aspect of serving its citizens. Consequently, Nigeria federation, which dominates the political stand, continue to build patronage networks, as the infrastructural standards remain dilapidated as it was in the watch of the military rule (Kay & Mazen, 2012). The besieged multitude of hostile military forces has spread to the present, whereby ethnic differences, form a source of instability. Chinua Achebe’s novel is an illustration of the political turmoil Nigeria faced during early 1990s when the British colonial power reigned. Current problems Nigeria face is still under the same trend of political instability with rising issues of segmentation of Nigeria. Muslims dominate the northern side of Nigeria while the southern mainly has Christians. The political instability has caused aggravating disputes between the two regions with each side attacking (Albert, 2005). The instability evidenced in Nigeria also caused the development of rebels. Since all the political bearers grabbed different portion of wealth during the dysfunctional regime of patronage, People formed diverse groups to protect their interests. The development of such groups led to the rising of rebels, which fight the government leading to the political instability evidenced in Nigeria (Mundt & Aborisade, 2004). In spite of attempts to revive the country during the second liberation, pervasive corruption dominated the leadership system, which led to electoral manipulations. The manipulations led to improper leadership, creating military coups, as successors remained worse than the leaders succeeded (Adeseyoju, 2006). Unless a cogent, there is political stability in a country; the success of the country is as stake. Political stability is brought by one key factor, which remains efficient and proficient leadership. When leaders concentrate on developing and gaining on their positions than helping the common citizens through developing the country, political instability arise as people fight to defend their rights. It is in this regards that Nigeria still needs efficient leadership, which can unite all Nigerian people (Mundt & Aborisade, 2004). The leader should also make use of all the available resources making development a key priority. Increasing inflation rate Despite facing political instability, Nigeria is also characterized by rising inflation rates a factor, which leaves common citizens to bear the consequences. According to Bloomberg magazine, as at march 2012 the inflation rate rose to 12.1 percent. This is a dangerous trend considering the country is the top oil produces. The rise to 12.1 percent was due to the rising price of goods at g1.6 percent every month (Ribadu, 2006). In as much as the central bank of Nigeria arranged various policies to control the rising inflation, the bank faced problems, which made it estimate the inflation peak at 14.5 percent (Adeseyoju, 2006). Using this as a basis the central bank gave room to the monetary policy committee to exercise various market strategies with an aim of controlling the inflation. The rising inflation also caused a rise in naira by 0.1% up to 157.17 per dollar, according to the interbank exchange rates in Lagos (Kay & Mazen, 2012). Nigeria, therefore, is a country rich but poor in providing basic for its citizens. For example, due to inflation, food prices, which account for not less than half, the consumer index, rose to 11.8 percent from 9.7 percent in the previous month. This is a trend, which leaves common people suffering, as they cannot gain access to basic food. On the other hand, core inflation excluding farm produce was not exempted (Albert, 2005). This because due to inflation a rise to 15 percent got evidenced from a 11.9 percent in the same period. In as much as the central bank targets an inflation rate of less than ten percent, it remains a wonderland considering current economic condition. Apart from the central bank employing various strategies to control the inflation in Nigeria, the president has also made various attempts. For instance, president Good luck Jonathan made changes in the fuel sector during the January session pushing up the price of gasoline by 50 percent to 97 naira (Kay & Mazen, 2012). Considering the economic fundamentals and realties, expansionary budgets and increased electricity bills, is not a sustainable step towards reduction of electricity. However, the solution lies in the monetary policies, which can reiterate the position of Nigeria without commensurate tighter, fiscal stance. Nigeria’s domestic production policy and the heavy reliance non-oil imports, is another area the Nigeria government should concentrate on in order to control the problem of inflation. Consequently, Nigerian government should develop aggressive domestic bond market, which offers access to long term funding (Adeseyoju, 2006). This will lead to sustainable growth of the Nigerian economy reducing inflation by a bigger margin. In summary, inflation in Nigeria remains a threat to development; in addition, it makes life difficult to the common citizens. This call for immediate action to ensure the high rate gets reduced to a level sustainable (Albert, 2005). Living standards The living standard in Nigeria is on the rise due to increasing inflation and political instability. For example, the country has two urban centers, which get portrayed as the most expensive destinations in the world ranking. Out of the 214 world destinations, Lagos falls at position 41 according to the 2011 Mercer Cost of Living Survey (Kay & Mazen, 2012). Abuja, on the other hand, takes position 18 in the 400 destinations as at 2010, a survey conducted by ECA International study. Apart from urban areas, the rural areas also levy a more expensive lease on life forcing people to endure problematic lives. At time people wonder how the oil rich country cannot afford to give its people affordable and life bearing conditions; however the answer lies behind the high poverty levels, corruption and crime, which forestall all plans to revive the country and provide sustainable cost of living (Albert, 2005). Ninety percent of Nigerians live below $1 a day a trend that is worrying. This translates, to non-access, to basic commodities, as employees go out of their way, to find the much-needed requirements despite the poor infrastructure. Nigeria is a country characterized by only two classes due to the absence of the middleclass. It is in this regards that the country has only the filthy rich and dismally as well as the irrevocably, poor. According to estimations a person, moving into the cities of Nigeria needs to ears $200,000 dollars with a bachelor earning $60,000 (Obadare, 2003). This is a worrying trend considering the rate of unemployment and the high rate of corruption employed to secure employment (Adeseyoju, 2006). The cost of housing remains a nightmare for many people leading to the development of many slams. This has motivated foreign companies to sublet housing units in enclave areas. In Abuja, a one-bedroom bungalow found in the city centre is not accessible by many people. This is because it costs 3 million naira per annum. This is approximately $18,500 dollars not subjecting the cost to rising inflation. The rising crime rates in Nigeria has also made, the cost of electricity high, not forgetting power rationing, which requires an extra facility generator (Albert, 2005). Same as accommodation, the cost of transport is equally high in Nigeria. In addition, people who own cars have problems driving around as levies are around every corner. It is in this regards that most tourists and visitors hire locals to bargain on their behalf on the treacherous traffic. This makes an individual earning $150 a month have problems when normal cost of transport gets tacked into the salary. Consequently, public transport remains an obsolete option due to ramshackle buses and unroadworthy vehicles not forgetting improvisational motorbikes. The cost of educations is also not forgotten, as it remains in the ceiling. People moving into Nigeria with kids cannot afford to take them into private schools as they charge costs associated with universities. $12,000 to $22,000 per annum is the cost of tuition in normal schools, if one excludes other extra costs. This is an option, which makes many miss out the chance of going to schools, with only rick people’s children attending such schools (Mundt & Aborisade, 2004). The cost of living in Nigeria, therefore, remains a problem among its citizens, as they cannot access basic requirements as well as education. In conclusion, Nigeria is a country bombarded with numerous resources, oil being the leading. It is a country, which by evaluation can exceed development in the already developed nations such as Benin. Consequently, it is a country, which can provide the best living standard to its citizens. It is on this basis that Nigeria should elect leaders who do not concentrate on building their personal ego, but national agenda. References Adeseyoju A. (2006). Gatekeepers as Money Launderers, The Guardian. 7(2) pp. 24- 26 Albert OI (2005). Terror as a Political Weapon: Reflections on the Bomb Explosions in Abacha’s Nigeria IFRA Ibadan. Special Research Issue, 1, pp. 37-56. Kay, C. & Mazen, M. (2012). Nigeria Inflation Accelerates, Keeping Pressure on Rates, Bloomberg. Retrieved from, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/nigeria-inflation accelerated-to-12-1-on-fuel-prices.html Mundt RJ & Aborisade O. (2004). Politics in Nigeria in Gabriel A. Almond, G. Bingham Powell, Jr., Kaare Strom and Russell J. Dalton, eds., Comparative Politics Today, A World View. 8(1), pp. 691-741. Obadare E. (2003). White Collar Fundamentalism: Youth, Religiosity and Uncivil Society in Nigeria. AAPS Occasional Papers Series, 7(3), pp.1-41 Okocha, S. (2011). Low financial education affecting living standards of Nigerians. Digital journal. Retrieved from, http://digitaljournal.com/article/313211 Ribadu N. (2006), Corruption: the Trouble with Nigeria. Gamji. 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