THE NIGERIA OF OUR DREAMS: MAKING IT HAPPEN WITH TECHNOLOGY
BY:
ESOIMEME, R., ESOIMEME, S. AND IGWE, G.
Nigeria is our fatherland; a land blessed with vast amount of natural and human resources which if well tapped, harnessed and properly managed, would make Nigeria among the most developed countries in the world. Mahatma Gandhi had a dream and the dream was to free India from the clamps of colonialism. Mahatma Gandhi lived and died for his dream; he was killed a year after his dream of an independent India was actualized. Dr Nelson Mandela had a dream for his country; South Africa. He dreamt of a country where political subjugation and inhumane apartheid policy would be abolished. He was imprisoned because of his dream for his people, but at the end of the day, his dream prevailed and apartheid was truncated. Our forefathers had a dream of an independent Nigeria. They fought the colonial imperialists with so much nationalistic zeal. Many of them were prepared to pay the supreme price. Eventually, on October 1st 1960, their dream gave birth to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my dear country. We also have a dream of a new Nigeria. We dream of a nation where there is no corruption; a country where education is prioritised; a country where people have access to free medical facilities, and a country where the transport system is top notch. However, before we explain how our dream Nigeria can be achieved, we would like to shed some light on the struggles that Nigeria has gone through.
Nigeria, our amiable country, has travelled through a lot of mountains in the quest to becoming a great nation. Since 1960 when we became a sovereign nation by virtue of our independence from the British, our poor nation has always remained on the headlines of most international news; starting from the Civil War in 1967 to militancy and terrorism. As if these were not enough, poverty, corruption, high level of illiteracy, and unemployment, to mention but few, have remained our “co-tenants” in Nigeria. But amidst all of these, our dream for our motherland is still green! This is because, we believe it is achievable with modern technology.
It is a fact that one major problem facing Nigeria as a country is corruption. Corruption is seen as an endemic disease in our system, and it has spread even to the grassroots. It is no gainsaying that corruption is a kryptonite to development, and any country that wants to be different must first, purge itself out of the menace. However, modern technology has been able to help curb corruption in the world, because advances in technology have paved way for unprecedented, rapid access to vast amounts of data on the economy and the world at large. Different countries, organisations and even private individuals have adopted this innovation as the potential instrument to tackle key issues in the society, including corruption. Our dream of a corruption-free Nigeria can be achieved through this same modern technology. Access to data and reliable information lead to transparency, which is a way of reducing corruption. This modern way of fighting against corruption is what some advanced countries like the USA, UK, and other countries have used to reduce the rate of corruption to its barest minimum. For instance, during general elections, the issue of election rigging can be minimised through live transmission of results.
In addition, we have a dream of a nation where the standards of education is at the utmost peak, and students from other countries can come to enrol in our schools; a country where universities are not closed half of the year, and a nation where education is made free and equal for both the rich and the poor. Our education system has not been encouraging, and it has been bereft of modern technology. Nelson Mandela said that; “No nation can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” This is to say that education is a sinequanon for development. We have the deep belief that with modern technologies, our education system will be revamped and transformed into international standards. In this new Nigeria, students do not necessarily need to crowd the classroom in the traditional learning style, before they can be educated. With the introduction of some learning platforms, like the Khad Academy, Edmondo, Google Classroom, Zoom, Zoho, Teams, and the likes, students can easily learn on the go (Thank God for COVID-19 that has further opened our eyes to this fact). With this initiative, our students will be able to adequately compete with other students in the world, thereby raising our standards of education to a world class level.
Furthermore, our dream Nigeria is a country, where the healthcare system is one of the best in the world; a country where the citizens do not die of common malaria. Our dream Nigeria is a country, where patients are not flown abroad for a proper medical care, and a country where modern medical facilities and equipment are available. We dream of a country, where there is an e-health system. This e-health system will be used to monitor the citizens and ensure that they get good medical attention when need be. The e-health system will cover biosecurity, insurance and treatment. With this system, issues like “police report before treatment,” “you have to deposit some amount of money before treatment,” and other excuses that have led to the deaths of many Nigerians, will be averted. Remember, “Health is wealth,” and when there is life in good health, there is hope!
Our dream Nigeria is a country where the manufacturing industries are really working. Though we are ranked 29th in the world, the contribution from our industries is still very low. It is a known fact that industrial development is a pathway to sustainable economic growth. This is why this sector must not be overlooked. Hence, it has formed part of our dreams for our new country. We believe that with modern technology, our production will increase. Science and technology have made things much easier in such a way that machines can reduce human physical efforts. You may want to say that this will lead to technological unemployment; a situation where machines are made to do the original jobs done previously by man, but this will certainly bring tremendous changes into our economy.
Finally, we have a dream of a nation with good transportation system; a Nigeria with good roads, railways and fewer occurrences of accidents. Transportation is the movement of humans, animals and goods from one location to another. Transportation enables trade among people, which is essential for the development of any country. Globally, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are making driving and traffic management better and safer for everyone. New transportation technologies are emerging to meet the challenges of transportation in the world, including connected and autonomous vehicles, alternative fuels, drones (UAVs), keyless fleet management and traffic analytics, all to support a transit-oriented development. New technology for on-road communications will dramatically change how vehicles operate and provide information and capabilities for better, real-time traffic management. These modern technologies can also be devised to better the transport system in the Nigeria of our dream.
In conclusion, in the words of E. F. Schumacher, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent; it takes a touch of genius and a courage to move in the opposite direction.” The current situation that Nigeria is found at the moment is not as good as when it was one of the highest exporting countries in Africa, and even in the world. We know that some people have already, or almost given up on this great nation, but we still have our faith intact that, this country is coming back! Technology is believed to make things better, and we believe it can be used to make Nigeria a great nation. Besides, home is where the heart belongs, Nigeria is our home, and we believe in our home. This is our faith; this is our hope; and this is our dream for our country. With technology, we are very optimistic that this country will become great once again!