Development, undeveloped and underdevelopment share filial lineage. The concept of development denotes growth as well as positive change from former state and existing stage. At the level of the individual, it implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material wellbeing. However, most of these are virtually moral categories and are difficult to evaluate, depending as they do on the age in which one lives, class, origin and personal code of right and wrong. However, what is indisputable is that the achievement of any of those aspects of personal development is very much tied in with the state of the society as a whole. Therefore, development is both personal and societal. The two are closely interwoven. But at whatever level of analysis, man is central to the issue and determination of development.
Yet it should be noted that the notion of development implies the opposite of development, which in this case is undeveloped. If there is development and undevelopment, what about underdevelopment? In most of the literature on the issue of development, the opposite of development or more appropriately, developed is usually assumed to be underdevelopment. Why is this so? In a short while, we will explain how this has come to be. But developed or development is subjective matter and is prone to value judgement. Efforts to raise acceptable standard of measurement has also not been successful, both at personal and societal levels. In the midst of the contentions, measureable indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Per Capital Income (PCI), Life Expectancy, Poverty, Literacy and Employment levels are used, while less tangible factors such as personal dignity, freedom of association, human right and participation in civil society are evaluated to determine the level of a society’s development. It is quite obvious that Nigeria comparatively falls below most of minimum standard in all the above listed indicators/factors and in various agencies report measuring the above indicators; whether Mo Ibrahim, World Bank, Freedom House and V-Dem among others. As noted, while there may be issues with methodology of these data collected and its analysis, what is not in doubt is the obvious lack of physical and technological infrastructure, declining per capital income, higher levels of the populace within the poverty bracket, loss of respect of and for human life/rights in Nigeria and low life expectancy that hovers around mid-40s for most Nigerians.
While the development economics and writers are mainly concerned with the material standard of living and policies that will raise and accelerate the growth of absolute low per capital income in developing countries, such concerns and obsessions have neglected to historically assess how and what has driven down per capital income, make corruption attractive and negatively affect the productive inclinations of humans. Thus, while such economic policies (Udoji Awards) may temporarily and marginally increase per capital income, it is not sustainable in the long run and over time and the effect negligible. Thus, the problem as common with underdeveloped countries still subsist, that is, the problem of helping the people of a country to attain certain minimum material standard of living in terms of factors such as food, shelter, clothing and nutrition because, their low/non-existent per capital income is a measure of problem of poverty in a material sense.
On the other hand, there are those who are concern with economic development either because they believed it is what people in the underdeveloped world want or because they believed that political stability can be assured only with satisfactory role of economic growth. Many developed countries since the end of the World War II, have extended foreign aids to developing countries for a combination of humanitarian and political reasons. These aids have not and would not work. Reasons for this would be treated in another piece. However, those who are concerned with political stability tend to see the low per capital income of the developing countries in relative terms, that is, in relation to high per capital income of developed countries. For them, even a country (Nigeria) that is able to, hypothetically, improve its material standard of living through a rise in the level of its per capital income, may still be faced with more intractable subjective problems such as discontent and unfavourable eco-political environment, as well as the wide gap in the relative levels, between itself and richer countries. Such discontent may be one of the key reasons for the emergence and operation of anti-state elements, including the Niger Delta Avengers.
The effect of such slight improvement on PCI may still be problematic because, from the operation of arithmetic of growth on the large initial gap between the income level of developed and underdeveloped countries for example, an underdeveloped country (Nigeria) with per capital income of say, $100 and a develop country (USA) with per capital income of 1000 dollars, show that if the income in both countries grows at 5% after one year, ceteris paribus, the income of underdeveloped country would be 105 dollar and the developed $1050 dollars; the income gap has widen to 945 dollars. In simple arithmetic, the income of under developing country would need to grow by 50% to maintain the absolute gap of 900 dollar, while the developed country maintain its 5% growth rate. And that is why there is still ongoing debate whether, through policies, it better to focus on raising the standard of living through PCI and make it a priority or reducing the relative gap in standard of living between the developed and underdeveloped countries like Nigeria. Both have implications for local and international stability, world migration and structure of the international system. Raising the living standard of living through PCI and closing the gap are germane to part of efforts at addressing the state of underdevelopment in Nigeria and constitute a fraction of the solution.
Having the raised the issue of historical nature of underdevelopment in Nigeria in concrete terms like standard of living, per capital income and structure of production and consumption, and the confusion about development, undeveloped and underdevelopment, it is critical to state and address the issue forthwith. The economies of Nigeria, like most African countries, started as communal with market developing as society grows. It was a roughly egalitarian society and production was basically subsistence. Each group of people cultivated that which sustains them and could bring the best and heaviest harvest. Market was at its rudimentary stage. Market and exchange was initially based on barter, personal/physical repayment and later, the use of cowries with stones serving as indicators of price exchange. Market was essentially an avenue for social relations and morality/trust was an essential ingredient in market relations. Corruption was non-existent or minimal as it were. Comparatively, there was not much to distinguish countries in the West from those in Africa according to oral traditions and earliest records. However, this natural evolution was truncated by the coming of colonial interlopers who imposed through a combination of force and fraud, their version of market relations (economics) and power relations; reshaping, creating and sustaining existing and new class of rulers, and in the process creating gaps between local elites and the mass of the local populace as well as creating wide gap between the home country (mostly in Europe) and the unwilling host country (Across Africa/Nigeria). While the poor of Africa represents the wretched of the earth, those in developed are still relatively poor, with only their dignity and self-worth much more at play.
With this, new forms of production and consumption was introduced to make Nigeria producers of raw materials for use in industrialized Europe. Furthermore, economic division of labour was tactically introduced to make the Western Nigeria producers of Cocoa, North producers of groundnuts and in the East, coals and sundry primary products became the main focus. No attempt was made to develop the infrastructural and technological base of Nigerian people and its economy. The infrastructure developed and left behind by colonial interlopers were not meant to develop Nigeria, but to serve the economic needs of colonial Britain. Money, formal notes, as medium of exchange was introduced and this changed social relations within the Nigerian society. Wealth and poverty became defined in terms monetary value or how much property or lack of it cost in naira and kobo. This shaped individual and group relations. The discovery of oil further disarticulated the Nigerian economy and resulted mono economy and arguments have been advanced by scholars on the resource curse theory and underdevelopment, notably Acemoglu and Robinson. The process and scenario described above transformed Nigeria from undeveloped to underdeveloped.
Yet, persistent has been the subjective question of a sense of discontent widespread among the under-developed countries, particularly in Nigeria. It will never wholly disappear, and may increase given Nigeria’s path of underdevelopment. The under developed countries sense of dissatisfaction and grievances arises, not only by measurable differences in national income but also for easily less measurable factors such as their reactions against colonial past and the drive towards national prestige and pride. In order to address both factors mentioned above, Nigeria, like other countries with similar past and situation, use major part of their national income in erecting gigantic projects such as Ajaokuta Steel rolling mill, hydro-electric dams, unwieldly federal and state universities, Federal Secretariat and other white elephant projects.
These symbols of national prestige and modernity, though initially may have engender satisfaction and pride, have become moribund and a huge drain in and waste of the meagre resources of an underdeveloped country like Nigeria. In fact seeing such wastages year in, year out as reflected in Nigeria budgets over the years has become a more potent source of discontent than the international gap of discontent explained earlier between USA and Nigeria, as such projects have not, theoretically and empirically, added to a better standard of living of Nigerians nor added to their per capital income, immediately after independence or now.
Therefore, how and why is Nigeria still regarded as underdeveloped comparatively speaking? It should be noted that as pointed out above, there are a number of indicators to measure a country’s growth and development and on these scales, Nigeria falls short. Thus, the existing differences in the per capital income levels between the developed and underdeveloped countries can be accounted for, not only in pure economic terms but by examining the socio-historical and eco-political disarticulations visited on Nigeria’s economic system and psyche by colonial rulers and her indigenous rulers up to date, but also in terms of the structure of international economic relations and the disadvantaged position Nigeria, like other third world countries, have found themselves. Much more, given this background, answers can also be found while appraising in terms of differences in natural conditions beyond the content and control of simple man and society in undeveloped societies, that is, the underdeveloped countries are underdeveloped because in some ways they have not yet succeeded in making full use of their potential and environment for economic growth and development which is self-inflicted. In order words. the potential for underdevelopment (may) arise from underdevelopment of their (Nigeria) material resources, human resources, attitude and values, and technological backwardness. More generally, it may arise from underdevelopment of economic organization and institutions including the network of market structures and systems and the administrative machinery of the government that is parasitic in nature like we have in Nigeria.
Therefore in conclusion, the general solution will be the recognition and development of organizational frameworks that would enable Nigeria make full use, not only of her domestic resources and strengths including its population, but also its external economic opportunities in form of international trade, foreign investment, technological and organizational innovations. Changes in behavioural patterns, values, attitudes, introduction of new models of political economy and restructuring of Nigeria’s domestic/foreign policy and actions must be effected to the remove tag of underdevelopment and move upwards in the development spectrum. But as food for thought and take away, most indicators look at and examine the purchasing power of individuals/the State and per capital income, which is getting lower and lower in Nigeria where the number of poor people is 70% according World Bank estimates and National Bureau of Stattistics. It is a truism that the developed countries serves as an index of underdeveloped country’s poverty in a material sense and thus, the hypothesis of Nigeria’ underdevelopment is valid.
Olugbemiga Afolabi
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