Production, economists aptly put, is creation of utility. Good. Fine. But where are the factors of production in Nigeria mostly found? Simple. In the cities or not very far from the cities! Land, Labour, Capital and Entrepreneurship. Yes! The land for the cities is mostly skimmed from the surrounding areas, eventually creating a megalopolis like Lagos/Ogun states.This brings dreamers of the good life to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Benin, Ibadan, Calabar, Uyo, Ilorin, Yola, Jalingo, Sokoto, Abeokuta, Ikeja, Enugu, Makurdi, Umuahia, Owerri, Minna, Oshogbo, and the other state capitals in Nigeria.
However, there are other non-state capitals like Warri, Aba, Nnewi, Onitsha, Eket, Ikot-Abasi, Bonny Island, Escravos, Forcados, and many others which are crowd-pulling towns because of the nature of economic activities going on there. Agriculture which used to be the mainstay of the average Nigerian's economy became abandoned for the glitterati of the cities and industrialised areas, choking them up per square meter.To compound the problems generated by the massively skewed drift of people to the cities, private and public activities continue to be carried out there since it is closest to the one most important business and life-existence cost reducer in Nigeria: Power supply!
The cities and industrialised areas are the highest in likelihood to have electric power available more of the time than the rural and unindustrialised areas. But the so-called unindustrialised areas are actually, in more than 90 percent of cases, agriculturalised areas. So nowhere in Nigeria is unproductive. Or to put it statistically, Most of Nigeria is productive. Then, why the rush to the cities?Apart from power, status symbolisation may be an underlying cause of these drifts. A resident in the city, is more likely to be socially upgraded in the rural areas in political/economic matters than a "villager" or "local champion" as it is sometimes coined in Nigeria. People, some of who have visited their hometowns only once or twice, have won elections into the Nigerian parliament not to talk of being shortlisted for chieftaincy titles in the same hometown they visited just once (to receive the title) in their lifetime! There are many other factors which more or less have to do with the factors of production.
So in they rush. From fishermen to farmers, husbands and housewives and even sometimes grannies! Yes grannies. Healthcare in the rural areas is not the quality you get in the cities. And even in the cities they are very scarce. The former farmers and fishermen first get a motorcycle, in some cases, and begin the "okada" business. Commercial motorcyclists jam-pack every nook and cranny of major areas earlier described in this article creating traffic congestion and more than 70 percent of road accidents in Nigeria. People including the former farmers and fishermen go into the market and buy the scarce foodstuff at high prices, occasioned by their abandonment of the means of creating man's first need: Food.
Enough of the causes. Now for the remedies.
Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt have shown commitment to reorganise their environments. Fine. Yes, that is how to start the change. Follow the laid down town plans, remove structures from where they did not belong, excommunicate okadamen or peg their time of operations to 7.00pm, and many more. Good. But the lure of the city or developed areas. How do you wish people away from these places when there are no alternative cash points elsewhere in this vastly beautiful and promising country? Yes there were in the pre-oil money conscious days profitable activities in the rural areas. For instance all railway station towns were known on the map because farmers could load their produces on the trains in their towns to various customers elsewhere in the country or to the ports down south for export. So you have people settling in Kafanchan from closer farming settlements, even though Kaduna the state capital was not too far.
Enough of the causes. Now for the remedies.
Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt have shown commitment to reorganise their environments. Fine. Yes, that is how to start the change. Follow the laid down town plans, remove structures from where they did not belong, excommunicate okadamen or peg their time of operations to 7.00pm, and many more. Good. But the lure of the city or developed areas. How do you wish people away from these places when there are no alternative cash points elsewhere in this vastly beautiful and promising country? Yes there were in the pre-oil money conscious days profitable activities in the rural areas. For instance all railway station towns were known on the map because farmers could load their produces on the trains in their towns to various customers elsewhere in the country or to the ports down south for export. So you have people settling in Kafanchan from closer farming settlements, even though Kaduna the state capital was not too far.
But we need more than breaking down structures defacing cities. We need to put up structures that will make people stay back in the towns and villages and only visit cities for visas, or parties or flights out of the country or within the country as the case may be. People should be able to live in Ise-Ekiti, Obubra, Bida, Isselle Uku, Ubiaja, Abonema, Ozoro, Eha-Amufu, Oyorokoto, Ayakoromo, Gbokolo, Adazi-Ani or Fadan Karshi and be happy!
We need a conglomerate, all-hands-on-deck approach to things here. Everyone must be involved from the government to the drifters themselves. All that glitters is not gold.
It is very rare, come to think of it, for gold to be found in the cities!
To start with, we must provide adequate and reliable power from any source as long as it is safe and not a potential hazard to people . Government has made tons of statements on this but our vision is either blurred or there is nothing or little going on about it. Until this setback is addressed, even the experts will not be able to charge their phones so as to be able to communicate with each other on where the next meeting will take place!
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