Problems are opportunities for business development. Nature has created enough opportunities that manifest as problems to nations. It requires a creative mindset to appreciate the problem created by nature and convert them to opportunity for the people. When development makes investors to create sub-development, then a progressive problem is initiated. This is demonstrated through multi-campus system and the first set of bank consolidation by Charles Soludo. The elite, rather than approach an issue in a domestic manner, brings theories that destroy common sense. The money spent to sustain the compulsory liquidation of banks in 2009 was several times more than what is needed to solve the actual cash inadequacy problem. It was the youth that suffered the consequences. Every problem created by an idea that has potential of a sub-idea is taken as progressive problem.
A progressive problem is full of advantages to the youths. This is what African countries have in abundance but failed to utilize. Lack of roads, lights, rail, airports, and these uncultivated fallow lands are progressive problem to Africa. Where there is massive underdevelopment with great marketing potentials, unemployment is an aberration. It is pure lack of idea, laziness, early gratification and selfishness that leads African leaders to capital flight. Private Universities brought up progressive problem of Human Resource deficit in educational system.
It is dangerous to call an environment “developed”. A developed environment has reached the peak of her development, nothing to add again. All roads are fixed, all street are lighted, all fallow lands are developed, all hospitals are equipped, all sicknesses have solutions, all problems are solved, nothing else again. Unfortunately, this is usually the area where there is high level of youth restlessness and suicide. Any nation that has reached this level is potentially reaching the point of its retrogression. Yoruba says ”Laala to roke, ile lonbo”. A flying cart returns to the ground after reaching its peak.
As long as you are green, you are growing; as soon as you are ripe, you start to rot - Honor Books
Has any nation reached this level of enough development? Like Schumacher’s question what is enough? Who can tell? Certainly not the economist, who pursues economic growth as the highest of all values, and therefore has no concept of enough. There are poor societies which have too little, but where is the rich society that says: halt, we have enough?
Underdevelopment is a development in progression. Where there is selflessness, youth’s unemployment in such environment is an error. In some African countries, road construction for the next fifty years might not cover 50% of their networks. Mechanized faming that can feed millions is a small section of their fallow land. Why is unemployment in such environment? The elites engaged in this area are more interested on inflicting injuries to their nation while they build wealth around their connections.
The opportunities that exist in African countries are so enormous that they are practical envy to other regions without knowing. Once security is taken seriously, drawing investment and employment is the easiest thing to do. But the greatest problem to Africa is Africa’s self inflicting injury. They have conflicts without sense, capital flight without human feeling, wars that have no bearing with wisdom, greed that has evil connotation and many vices beyond human comprehension. Who does these, the elite?
Dorothy Sayer says, never think that war is an irrational catastrophe, they happen when wrong ways of thinking and living bring about intolerable situation. These situations are usually created by those that have the opportunity of creating work. There cannot be peace in an environment where poverty and riches are at high disparity, where massive wealth is being observed openly in the hands of a very few, but inaccessible by the majority.
Niyi Ogundiji
Curled from the book “Youths Under Fire”
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