Social Development in Nigeria

2 Key excerpts on "Social Development in Nigeria"

• 

  eBook - ePub

  A Sociology of Education for Africa

  • Kenneth Blakemore, Brian Cooksey(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Part Three

  Education and Development in Africa

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  Introduction to Part Three

  In Part Three we are concerned with the relationship between education and development. This introduction briefly defines the social, economic and political aspects of development. In addition, we discuss concepts related to development – social change, growth and progress – and their relationship to education, so as to prepare the way for the chapters which follow.

  It is important to spend some time over definitions. In the next three chapters we will raise the question of whether or not education brings change or development but, first of all, what do we mean by these ideas?

  Social Change

  By social change we mean alterations in the ways of life and structure of a society over time. During the last hundred years many social changes have been brought about by colonisation and decolonisation, the growth of large cities, transport and communications, and the development of technology and commerce. In Chapter 7 we will pick out social and cultural aspects of change from economic and political aspects – that is, we will focus on changes reflected in the alteration of social customs, culture, ideas, values and social relationships.

  We do not wish to imply from this division between social and political or economic that social changes are somehow independent of economic and political factors, or that cultural institutions and values cause change by themselves; we make this three-way division for purposes of convenience, recognising that changes in ideas and values cannot be understood apart from economic and political factors. The exploitation of oil resources and the way profits from them are distributed in Nigerian society or overseas have had profound effects upon the capacity of Nigeria to cause cultural and social change (for example, the expansion of schooling). At the same time, ruling groups or elites in Nigeria have been able to convince the majority -or at least enforce the view – that oil resources are best exploited in partnership with foreign companies in a basically free market economy. As oil resources dwindle in the next few decades, economic strains and shortages will undoubtedly challenge some of these ideas and values; thus economic and social aspects of change are intimately bound together.

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  eBook - ePub

  The Unfinished Revolution in Nigeria's Niger Delta

  Prospects for Environmental Justice and Peace

  • Cyril Obi, Temitope B. Oriola(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Existing data on the state of social and human development in an oil-endowed Nigeria, particularly since 1995, paints a very disappointing picture. The situation is not any better, and in some cases worse, in the Niger Delta region where on many measures, development appears to have been in reverse. As it is, the fortune of the Niger Delta region appears inextricably linked to Nigeria’s progress on growth and human development. Indeed the region may not be able to attain a measurably high and sustainable social and human developmental state as long as Nigeria’s performance itself remains dismal. The factors underlying Nigeria’s poor performance also largely define the developmental experience in the Niger Delta region.

  This chapter is organized into five sections that compare the state of human and socioeconomic development in Nigeria drawing on the strategic place of the Niger Delta with those of oil-producing countries. It critically examines the factors explaining diversity in outcomes, and proffers steps that may help redress the gaps in the situation. The first section provides a background to the chapter. The second section summarizes the current state of the literature on resource-abundance/dependence and socioeconomic performance. This is followed up with a comparison of the performance of Nigeria in relation to a sample of oil-producing countries and progress made in relation to development in the Niger Delta region over the last 25–30 years. These analyses, which are contained in the third section, are strongly rooted in the theoretical and empirical literature. In the fourth section, the chapter draws on some findings from the empirical evidence and discusses their implications. The final section concludes with some recommendations.

  Overview of literature

  Abundant natural resources can be of great value to societies. However, the empirical evidence from the developmental experiences of resource-rich countries has been mixed (Gylfason, 2001; Mehlum et al., 2006; Atsushi, 2007; Boschini et al., 2007; Andersen and Aslaksen, 2008; Torvik, 2009; Barma et al

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