By Francis Ogbimi

THE most important function of the intelligentsia/intellectuals of a nation is to provide the knowledge for guiding the growth and development of their nation. When the intelligentsia/intellectuals of a nation are unable to do this, the nation mops, drifts and stagnates. Nigeria has been moping, drifting and stagnating since independence.

Our nation started with five-year national plans, 1962-1986. Then the World Bank and IMF introduced the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, to Nigeria and over 30 other African nations in the early 1980s; Nigeria implemented SAP from 1986-2021. Nigeria returned to the five-year national planning in 2021. 

Nigeria is facing serious problems unemployment and poverty, indebtedness and insecurity. This article is written to demonstrate, using historical and scientific evidence that it is industrialisation that Nigeria needs to solve its main problem. Our historical research revealed, that all the technologically-advanced nations of today were poor artisan/agricultural nations for many centuries.

They became rich after they achieved industrialisation. The modern Western Europe – ancient Gaul, was harnessed into the Roman Empire in 55 B. C. The western portion of the empire broke-up in 406 A. D. The various ethnic groups in the region occupied by modern England and evading ethnics groups metamorphosed into the Kingdom of England in the tenth century. Productivity remained unchanged for over a thousand years.

All through the 1500s, English farm families were dispossessed of their land and forced to look after themselves as best as they could. The proportion of England’s population that was destitute rose dramatically. By the end of the 16th century, the common people in England were forced into begging, stealing and prostitution.

A common belief in an agrarian economy, is that the real solution to unemployment and poverty is to provide land for able-bodied people to farm and make a living themselves. This thinking probably influenced the actions taken by individuals and government concerning England poverty and unemployment problems during the early 1600s. It was during the early 1600s that charters were first issued for establishing colonies in the New World – the Americas. 

Such ventures were probably perceived as solutions to the problems of the English poor. The healthy and able-bodied poor could be sent to the colonies where people were in short supply and there was uncultivated land. That was the beginning of how the English poor (area boys?) were exported to America. Poverty and sufferings continued in Britain for many more centuries before the nation achieved the first modern Industrial Revolution, IR.

The general grievance, civil wars and military rule in England during the period 1640-1688 had a lot to do with unemployment and poverty. Thus, entrepreneurship and self-employment in agriculture did not solve the problem of unemployment and poverty in agrarian Britain. The British experience was typical of European nations. Britain did not establish public educational systems till after it had achieved IR and fought the two World Wars. 

Britain achieved the first modern IR in the period 1770-1850. When Britain achieved the IR, the adult males and females in the nation were not many enough to fill the available job openings. Consequently, employers of labour had to resort to employing children to work for many hours in the day. That was the basis of the scandalous child-labour in Britain during the early times of the European industrialisation. History, therefore, demonstrates that rapid economic growth and industrialisation are the solutions to mass unemployment, poverty and insecurity. Virginia, the first colony in the New World was set-up by British businessmen and the crown in 1606. By the 1770s, thirteen colonies had been set-up. The colonies revolted against the crown in 1775 and fought the War of Independence in the period 1775-1783. Assisted by many other European nations, the colonies won the war and the United States was born. The destitute of colonial America was faced by a system of relief that was similar to the one in Britain under the English poor law. 

During the early 1800s, America was a village-nation; over 90 per cent of America was made up of villages which had no contact with each other. The mother, father and children worked to provide food, shelter and clothing. The United States was a special case which demonstrated that learning (education, training, employment and research, integrated) is the primary basis for achieving sustainable economic growth, industrialisation and development, SEGID. The belief that the future of America rests on sound public education was common among early American leaders, though they themselves did not have opportunities for good education. Consequently, Americans displayed fully the versatility of an educated people. 

The New England States were the first to establish public schools to educate all young people. It was also in those states that sound and systematic education had been practised longest and where it was most developed that the greatest manufacturing development occurred first. The young boy’s mind was first prepared by school discipline and education.

He then began to acquire one type of skill after the other, never satisfied with any single skill type. Also, doing one mechanical operation never satisfied his employer. The young American learnt always at that time. Industrialisation is a scientific process. That is the reason economists and other social scientists and their friends: accountants, bankers, lawyers, administrators, etc., do not understand it and cannot manage it.

How is industrialisation achieved? Our curiosity-driven research revealed that industrialisation is achieved through learning (education, training, employment and research). The industrialised society is one that has developed many millions of knowledgeable, skilled and competent people. In the learning process, the higher the learning rate the higher is the rate of progress. European and Asian kingdoms and monarchies did not encourage learning. They learnt very slowly and achieved the modern industrialisation in 2000-3000 years. The learning people appreciate in intrinsic values with time and intensity of learning, 

Prof. Ogbimi, an economic and industrialisation expert, wrote via [email protected]