Nigeria's place in the world ... and its reputation
Andrew S Nevin, PhD
Brainomics – what is the economic value of better brain health?
I was on TVC this week (one of Nigeria's leading channels) discussing Nigeria's place in the world and its relationships. This is a critical and complex issue, but the main point for me is Nigeria is a giant, and needs to take its place among the leading nations on the planet. We are currently the 7th largest country by population. But by 2050, we will be the 3rd largest. So think about this - for your entire life (indeed, for everyone on the planet's entire life), there have been the same 3 largest countries by population in the world - India, China, and the USA. There has only been 1 change in order - India overtook China because of the latter's 1 child policy.
Now we are set to become the 3rd largest. More than that, we are the leader in Sub-Saharan Africa and for SSA to succeed, Nigeria has to succeed and we need to help pull the whole continent along. And make no mistake, SSA is becoming the centre of the world. By 2050, the population will be 2.1 billion, significantly bigger than China, India, Southeast Asia, or the Middle East and Northern Africa. And we all know Africa is so large you can fit NA, Europe, China, and India into it easily.
So this is an awesome responsibility and Nigeria needs to rise to it. One issue we need to squarely face is our poor reputation in the world. In a recent ranking of the worst (large) countries by reputation, we came 5th from the bottom, ahead of only Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, and barely ahead of Russia.
But those of us who live in Nigeria know this is not an accurate perception. Nigerians are among the most talented and and hard-working people in the world, and capable of extraordinary accomplishments (kudos to Anthony Joshua). So we need to change this perception.
This is a long-term challenge, but one we must meet to truly take our place as one of the leading nations. And every Nigerian has a responsibility to enhance - not diminish - this reputation.
Here is the link to the full interview (I start at 3:00 but whole segment is worth watching): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob0_763BHgg
Infrastructure Development & Finance | MIT Alumni
7 年This reminds me of Theonomics as discussed at the Platform. If we can move from "I" to "we" and consciously build honesty into our everyday life, I believe our reputation generally will improve.
Human | Thinker | Doer
7 年Hi Andrew, Very poignant post. We need to focus on how to get GenX's and Millennial's to see that we all need to pull together for the good of the nation to change the perception of the country, through not only words but actions. From my view point, the perception is based, rightly or wrongly, on many things (too long to list here). However, we need to begin to make the right steps to shape the perception narrative for Nigeria going forward, to not only attract FDI, but also, amongst other things, to give confidence to the upcoming generations to make the kind of impactful contributions required to make sure we can be proud when we are in our golden years! According to the Gapminder Foundation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E, the population of Africa by 2100 is projected to be 4 billion people (of which I presume Nigeria would be ~20 -30% of that total. if we don not have the right strategies, policies, institutions, social awareness and leadership it may be tough to manage that population and its demands and requirements (infrastructure, social/govt. institutions, economy, social structures, health, education, etc). I am optimistic though, we seem to be going in the right direction albeit slowly for now. t.
Co-Founder at Untangled.Finance | Building Web3 credit infrastructure
7 年Great interview Andrew S Nevin, PhD. I hope Nigeria will export rice soon.