THE CHILDREN ARE GROWING, ANY FOOD YET?

REFLECTIONS ON NIGERIAS JOURNEY TO INDUSTRIALIZATION ''Nigeria became independent of British rule in 1960. After independence Nigeria experienced frequent coups and long periods of autocratic military rule between 1966 and 1999, when a democratic civilian government was established. While oil wealth has financed major investments in the countrys infrastructure, Nigeria remains among the worlds poorest countries in terms of per capita income. Oil revenues led the government to ignore agriculture, and Nigeria must now import farm products to feed its people.'' This statement summarizes how the western world sees Nigeria but far beyond how we are seen is the exact greeting phrase. ''How are you?'' since I never ask my friend ''How are you seen?''. In 2008 Nigerias estimated population was 138,283,240, yielding an average density of 152 persons per sq km (393 per sq mi). With a birth rate of 40 per 1,000 and a death rate of 16.4 per 1,000, Nigerias population is growing at an average of 2 percent annuallya rapid pace, and little changed from the 1970s. The average Nigerian woman gives birth 5 times in her lifetime, although among more educated women the rate is somewhat lower. Nearly half of Nigerians are younger than 15 years. By 2025 the population is projected to grow to 206 million. This paper is not about demography but about what the plans of the government is for the future and the unborn, if at least the present adulterous generation must suffer. Government reforms in the 1970s led to a primary-school enrollment rate of about 90 percent of all Nigerian children in 1980. The rapid expansion contributed to falling standards of instruction and other problems. In 20022003, the enrollment rate for secondary schools was 36 percent yet a 2011 presidential election candidate believes the educational sector has no real problems. In 2003, manufacturing accounted for 4 percent of the GDP, down from 13 percent in 1982. Nigeria, its large population notwithstanding, had very little industrial developmenta few tanneries and oil-crushing mills that processed raw materials for export. In an attempt to broaden Nigerias industrial base, the government has invested heavily in joint ventures with private companies since the early 1980s. The largest such project is the integrated steel complex at Ajaokuta, built in 1983 at a cost of $4 billion but by 2011 it has not produced 1/100th of the tonnage of steel it was estimated it should have produced by 2000. As at May 2011, the estimated volume of resources spent on Ajaokuta is $685 billion? Government policies have hampered industrial development by making it difficult to obtain sufficient raw materials and spare parts. Hence, there are no automobile assembly plants, no railway lines, no stable power supply and the list goes on (we all know these problems that we are facing anyway). Here comes Goodluck Jonathan, our highly

revered and enlightened president (guilty until proven innocent). We want to know Mr. President, if this monumental steel complex that can change Africa's fortunes in one decade will arise in your tenure or we will keep looking to the hands of the western government to help steel production in Nigeria, knowing full well that ''the nation that controls steel production rules the world'' not the nation that controls oil. Also, Lord Lugard in 1912 said''Let it be admitted at the onset that European brains and resources have not been and will never be expended in developing the countries of Africa on the basis of sheer philanthropism.'' This philosophies and ideologies have not and will not change. Technological education is presently at its lowest ebb since pre-colonial days when the natives had fabric weaving (adire), forging and local crafts to cater for their direct needs. Nigeria's coal reserves are large, over 2 billion metric tonnes, of which 650 million tonnes are proven, yet less than 2 million tonnes have been exploited. The present republic is called upon to begin the industrialization process reasonably not like it was done in 1983 by backward integration of the steel complex which we now know is a failure. Let us find ways of developing an integrated educational system that will: a). have a science and technology curricula that gives priority to the complete development of human personality that is sensitive to perfection and order. b). have policy innovations like the reversal of the federal technical college craft programme to full secondary education duration of six years and setting up plans to integrate entrepreneurial education into the scheme of technology education. c). introduction of tertiary education programmes to enable holders of certificates to qualify for globally acceptable professional registration and practice. It all begins with a good educational system. Let us help the beautiful ones that are yet to be born. Let the policy makers remember the words of William de Witt Hude ''I shall pass through this life but once, any valiant thing to dare, any sacrifice to make to prove my worth to humanity, I shall do it now''.

Submitted by: OYETIMEIN OLUWATOBI C. MME/07/0643 500 L Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure.