How empowerment is failing in Africa

A governor of the middle belt state of Nigeria acquired wheelbarrows and distributed them as part of his empowerment scheme in his state. His logic was: If you have a wheelbarrow you have a tool to work with. The question many of his critics asked was: What kind of empowerment is a wheelbarrow?
There have sundry reports of youths who have risked their lives traveling to North African countries so as to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. Many people have perished at sea and in the desert because of this risky venture. Italian authorities recently investigated the deaths of 26 girls, mostly Nigerians who were found dead at sea with evidence of sexual abuse and violation. The continual exodus of youths from African countries is caused by a loss of hope in the future of their countries

   

The concept and meaning of empowerment has different interpretations to various kinds of people. One general description says its “measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self determination of people.” In an organization it is defined as “a management practice of sharing information, rewards and power with employees.”Empowering people is generally giving them opportunities to advance their fortunes in commerce, politics and national perspectives. Leadership determines to a large extent how, when and why people are empowered. Sadly, the African society demonstrates very few opportunities of empowerment for its people. The basic necessities that are taken for granted in various developed countries are grossly absent in many poverty stricken African nations. There is a high tendency for corruption in government, dishonesty and misappropriation in the use of public funds such that these countries cannot afford the necessary infrastructure for the people who live there.

The absence of stable electricity in West Africa is major factor of underdevelopment. If people do not have access to electricity they spend extra sums of money to generate their own. Activity that should be driven by electricity becomes absent or highly expensive to sustain.

Lagos, a city in South West Nigeria, suffers all the indicators of a society rigged with poverty and a gross lack of empowerment. There are large numbers of youths who are in jobs and activities that put a daily meal on their table, but do not produce anything. Many school leavers and drop outs are involved in football gambling and internet fraud and petty crimes for sustenance. Industry in Lagos is virtually dead. Importation of cheaper goods, lack of security and reduced access to energy has lead to the closure of many industrial organizations which could contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country if they were still up and running. Industries are fast becoming obsolete in Nigeria. Many of them have multiple problems. They have no access to viable and affordable energy sources, no proper roads through which goods can be evacuated, constant harassment by law enforcement for cash gifts, multiple tax payments and competition against cheaper imports.

Minister for Agriculture and rural development in Nigeria Mr. Audu Ogbeh who had earlier declared that there would be ban on the importation of rice in December 2017 has since realized that an outright ban would be difficult to implement. Rice is currently grown in 18 states in Nigeria but the combined harvest of these states cannot meet the demand of the Nigerian rice consumers who currently eat over 500metric tons of the commodity every year. Nigeria is the largest importer of rice, oil and sugar in West Africa and holds a high up position for the importation of these products worldwide. Sadly, Nigeria is still importing N1trillion worth of food a year. Ogbeh says government in Nigeria cannot afford to finance rice farmers like they do in Thailand and other Asian countries. The question is: If government is not ready to subsidize farmers to help get agriculture off the ground then how does the farmer survive and how does agriculture thrive in a country like Nigeria? Giving the farmers loans, tools for production and outright purchases of their products as well as introducing processing mills that would prepare the rice for sale would go a long way in making a credible impact on rice production. But government has rejected that strategy.

Farmers in every major country where agriculture has flourished are not left to struggle on their own they are empowered by government who finances parts of their operations and reduces tax collection from them. Its not so in Nigeria.. Farmers have complained that Internal Revenue Service(IRS) have showed up at there farms threatening to shut them because of tax issues.

Economic empowerment should be such that start up and existing organizations that need help should have access to tools, necessary imports and tax holidays that would make them profitable and thereby help develop the economy. Many of our governments couldn’t care less.

By 2050 the emerging economies in the world: Brazil, India, Russia and China would have gone far ahead in terms of development. Brazil, in spite of economic challenges has made huge headway in the development of Computer Applications, India is becoming a hub for computer software and medical tourism, Russia is also making great forays into computer development, exploitation of gas reserves and warfare equipment, China is working on connecting all its cities by rail, increased automobile manufacturing and military hardware development. It is expected that China and India would be leading producer of manufactured products by the year 2050. Africa’s only hope in this race appears to be South Africa and even there, corruption and political turmoil is making  the country lag behind.If proper action is not taken, Nigeria would be left behind in scheme of manufacturing and at the height of service delivery. 

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