Historically,
the pattern of settlement in Nigeria
has been, for the most part, one of farmers living in towns and cities,
traveling many miles a day to tend their fields. Today the forces of
urbanization are serving to accentuate this existing tendency. With an
estimated population of 160,000,000, approximately 10% live in 56 cities
of more than 20,000,000 each. The Western Region is the most highly urbanized
section of the country, containing six of the seven largest cities.
There are two large sources of existing and potential wage earning peasant
farmers who either begins to produce a surplus for sale, or who go to work for
another farmer, and the ever increasing number of school graduates.
Most
of these young literate Nigerians feel that peasant farming offers no future,
and yet the majority of them have not been trained for any specific job.
Although all young developing economies suffer from the problem of
underemployment and unemployment, the situation has been aggravated in Nigeria by the
increased pace of basic education. Advanced education is still somewhat of a
novelty, and tends to become a status symbol rather than a force for economic
progress. The Nigerian economy simply cannot at present absorb the existing
labor supply. In spite of the large amount of labor available, Nigeria is greatly
handicapped by the paucity of skilled labor, its obstacle to more rapid
development. Managerial skills are In short supply.
Very
few Nigerian businessmen are willing to launch a manufacturing venture at their
own risk. This is largely due to limited capital and to the lack of
an industrial tradition. Although ideally, government 8 role in economic
development should be, for the most part, one of help and encouragement to the
private sector of the economy, the great shortage of entrepreneurial skills at all levels
has forced the Nigerian government not only to assume that role but also be
manager and consumer. Therefore, though there is no doubt that
public investment can lead to private investment, in Nigeria public
investment must not only act as a stimulus but also "lead the way." Nigeria is also
handicapped by a lack of data. Statistics on the economy before 1950 are
completely inadequate, and still leave much to be desired. Population figures
are only estimates because a census has never been
successfully taken. This lack of data handicaps government planning, and
also tends to discourage potential foreign investors.
To encourage foreign
investment, the U. N. provided the money for reinvestment studies of
large-scale projects, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has sought industrial
possibilities and local entrepreneurs and then looked for private foreign
investment to match. Industry requires good transportation facilities. At the
time of independence, Nigeria
had only 5,300 miles of paved roads and approximately 1,770 miles of railway
track. However, both of these are being constantly extended. At present,
steamer traffic on the inland waterways system is governed by the time of year,
i.e., going farther up-river at flood time. Nigeria does not have a good
natural port. The two man ports are Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Another
hindrance to economic development is the fact that in most of Nigeria
confused land laws make it difficult to secure land for factory construction.
Even when land is obtainable, not all manufacturers care to, or can build.
There is also a dearth of space for rent. In order to meet the need for
industrial sites, some cities in Nigeria have begun to create
industrial estates. To offset these liabilities, Nigeria possesses a great many
assets. One of the greatest of these is her stable, conservative government.
Although beset by regionalism, the federal government has kept Nigeria free
from the political chaos that has had such a detrimental effect on some other new
African states. Because skills can be acquired, the large labor supply should
be considered as an asset. One of the prerequisites for economic development is
the willingness of the labor force to migrate to areas where economic
opportunity is greater, and further, to remain mobile being willing to change employment
when income can be increased. This seems to be true in Nigeria.