Human capacity building

One programme had profound impact on me today at about 22.07pm on the 9^th of October 2011. It was Steve Jobs speech at Standford University in 2005 replayed in Fareed Zakarees programme, GPS on CNN.The issues raised in that programme may not be too relevant to Nigeria, however, i would want us to meditate on two key observations. One is on the life and times of Steve Jobs and the other, on the Global recession with special focus on the United States of America. I will do well to start with Steve Jobs story.

I will, for obvious reasons, not quote verbatim, but I will say this; Steve Jobs speech evoked the great spirit of hope and faith in myself and in my ability to make the required change, no matter how small, in making my world and indeed every ones world a much better place to live in. For a full view of that wonderful speech, go to google.com.

On the subject of the global recession with special focus on the U S, a team of commentators and analyst discussed extensively on where, why and how America got it all wrong. It was an interesting cast of captains of industry, academia and the mass media.

What caught my attention was their honesty in openly accepting the fact the American economy was in the doldrums and in dare need of sustainable remedies while also proffering projectable solutions and the strategies to achieve these.

Flights of fancy, i observed not throughout the programme. Blames were shared as it was a contribution of both the public and private sectors as drivers of the recessional vehicles’. The truth be told, it was observed that consumerism of the American lifestyle which seemed to have been copied around the world without a corresponding savings culture helped to fuel the current crises. In fact, it was inevitable. It just needed the required stimulus. The pop culture and the spend or brake attitude that has been pervasive over the past twenty (20) years, just had to go burst.

Africa and indeed Nigeria could not be saved from the spiral effect of the Global Economic Tsunami that swept the best Economies of Europe, South America and Asia. Nigeria, with its fundamentally flawed mono  Economy, weak infrastructural setting, confusing regulatory regime and public/ private sector alliance that seems to impoverish its over stretched populace found it highly puzzling and a maze like quagmire.

The discuss also brought out some interesting solutions, though not entirely new it seems. The approach used by the war time President of the US (F. Delano Roosevelt) was a sure winner by my take. Read this at Google.com.

I want to posit here for the umpteenth time that any country worth its onions will do well to develop its Educational infrastructure as this is the platform from where every other growth must spring from. An educated and sophisticated workforce pivots the much needed economic growth.

In countries such as the U S, the academia drives capitalism as Research and Development is carried out here sponsored by the industries. In fact, most universities don’t get much from Government as the bulk of their grants are from the industries to aid Research.

An educated population is one that can be well mobilized to galvanize grass root developmental efforts, sustaining the tempo of growth and can be relied upon to insist that Government be responsive to its needs and demands within the ambits of the law.

You see, leadership is a responsibility for all and not just the designated. By this i mean, every member of the union called Nigeria should be assured of an equal measure of responsibility to the sanctity of its constitution. Education exposes us to these. Therefore, if Nigeria, on a scale of  1  to 100 has about 60% of its population educated, we are on the right track.

However, we all know that this is not happening anytime soon. The postscript here, chaos.  What’s the way forward? A total overhaul of the educational system. A reorganization and restructuring of the programme content of both syllabi and curriculum at the three tiers of our educational ladder.

Human capacity building should be the first step towards rebranding Nigeria. Yes, we have a Diaspora that can run this country and make it the greatest country in the world. America has achieved so much not because of its Native population , but because it has a system that buys out and attracts the best brains from other Nations . Please check the U S immigration policy and its institution of a lottery for would-be migrants. America has branded itself as a land of opportunities and the home of the brave. Can we say same for our dear Country?

No amount of whitewash can change the stain already rubbishing us at the moment. What is required is Human capacity building. If need be, we should  buy Human capacities FROM OUTSIDE OUR SHORES. That’s what the rest of the world is doing. You cannot re-invent the wheel.