Under-Developing Nigeria: The Conspiracy Of Science And Society

Abstract

Delivering one of the Academy lectures is a distinctive and unique honour. I want to express sincere gratitude and appreciation to the President and Fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Science for providing me with this incomparable and inimitable opportunity coming, as it is, as the Academy celebrates its silver jubilee and soon after my tenth year as a Fellow of the Academy. I thought I should use the opportunity to examine the role of science in our development, to see how science and society have interacted and how Nigeria has benefited from such a marriage. I also wished to examine the role of the Nigerian scientist in a country that has little respect for learning, a near utter disregard for excellence, a disdain for quality and brilliance. We live in a country that celebrates mediocrity and places the mundane on the golden pedestal of repute. You may suspect from the onset that I am a frustrated person. I may sound annoyed and displeased about the-situation of science and technological development in Nigeria. Quite the contrary, I assure you I am not. I am only in a state of agony and lamentation for my country. I am mourning for a lost past, a disastrous present, and an unknown future.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I declare that science, scientists, and the society have all conspired to under develop our beloved country. Do not be amazed that I am starting with the conclusion, because a few years ago, so much unpredictable and undesirable things could happen in the short space of time it takes to  deliver a one-hour lecture, ridiculous things that could prevent us from hearing the conclusion of the lecture. For example, NEPA could strike or the Senate Human Rights and Fair Play Sub-Committee may decide to send police in here to drive all of us out because this hall is required to hold a reception in honour of one of her members who has just received the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Jurisprudence and Human Rights. But I am assured that we live in a new country, where NEPA is the New Electric-Power Authority. A new country, where I am free to say what is on my mind as a free citizen of this beloved country. A new country, where there is respect for human dignity and justice. A new country, where there is respect for liberty, where corruption is rare, where the benefits of science is within the reach of the majority of the population. Please do not laugh, as that was my dream for Nigeria forty year ago.

Forty years ago, I sat for the Cambridge School Certificate at my alma mater, The Government College, Ughelli, in the Delta State of today. I remember vividly the essay topic I wrote for the English paper one. It was titled: Nigeria, twenty years from now. I wrote, and wrote, till my fingers ached in cramps of excitement. I was excited for the future of my dear country, and I wrote furiously. I dreamt dreams and wrote my dreams on paper, Oh, I saw a country where tribe and tongue differed, but in brotherhood we stood, I saw a vision of a country where Nigerians all were proud to serve our dear motherland. In my- dream, I saw macadamized roads criss-crossing the entire land of Nigeria. Every house had running potable water, where electricity never ‘blinked ‘for one day. Only those who chose not to go, did not attend the new primary and secondary schools found all over the country. Our universities were offering courses relevant for the development of our country. Technical schools and polytechnics dotted every nook and corner of Nigeria, training people who turned Nigeria into a technological paradise, people who made Nigeria a beauty to behold. So, it was it a delight to be sick in the Nigeria of my dream. We had hospitals where good care with humanitarian touch marked the order of the day. There were no armed robbers as those who would have chosen the profession of armed robbery were in good schools or polytechnics. Nigeria in 1982, was the utopia. I wrote with the fervour of a young man who was very proud of his motherland. A teenager, who wanted to live and die for his country. I had plans for myself too. I would go into science, maybe medicine, maybe engineering. I would discover cures for diseases or build bridges across the river Ethiope in Sapele, and others linking all the riverside towns of Nigeria’s delta and mangrove swamps.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, that was 4O-years ago.