ECONOMIC GROWTH OR DEVELOPMENT: WHICH IS NIGERIA ACTUALLY TRAILING

The spontaneous conception to an average man on hearing things like; the nation's GDP grew in certain period; the economy is growing at a particular rate; we will increase growth in a particular sector, we tends to equate growth with development. Or more plainly stated, believe that things are/will become better(say economically, socially, politically,technologically and beyond in terms quality of life or standard of living). Thus, lays credence to why politicians sometimes uses these statements to gain/manipulates people's concent in the polity despite the apparent reality proving beyond reasonable doubt that growth sometimes doesn't leads to improve quality of life, in fact sometimes, it deteriorates it.

To get a clear picture of this, there is a need to venture into what growth and development actually entails, to know if there really is a correlation between the two and why is it that people equate growth with development. All these will become unraveled as this review unfolds.

Growth simply means increase in productivity or income within a period of time usually measured with indexes like Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Product, Gross National Income-recommended by the united nations (UN). Say i could produce 100 bag of rice a year ago but 150 bags now, therefore there has been an increase in growth,(just like the second quarter of 2017 GDP figure released by the NBS-national bureau of statistics. Growth can also be negative, that is, a reduction in productivity or income(like the 2016 GDP data that put the Nigeria in recession). By now you might already be thinking that if growth sometimes deteriorates living conditions,then is probably a negative growth. Am afraid to tell you that even a positive/increase in growth sometimes do. This will come clearer as we examine the meaning of DEVELOPMENT.

The quest for what Development means was spurred by the lapse in growth spotted above as economists, sociologist, scientists and even psychologist began to question this inadequacy. You might be think that development means a well structured economic, political, social, legal, technological systems or think of it as a country with the abundance of all the infrastructure that runs within your imagination, or even think of it in terms of a comparison of countries that fall within the broad global stratification of first and third world countries. Actually, development is all this and beyond. I like to think of it as an achievable utopia, which is why its meaning has and will continues to change with time and there is yet to be a unanimous agreement on its meaning. Despite this lapse, there is still a wide acceptance on measuring development within the assessment of a consensus of indexes like Gross National/National Product, per capital income adjusted by purchasing power parity(PPP), human development index(HDI)- of the united nations development program(UNDP). It is also surprising to know that Nigeria remains in the 4th group and 152 in position of the 2016 HDI data despite her recording an increase growth over the years).

Development tries to focus on the betterment of human; their welfare becomes important here; their health; their knowledge (education); happiness level; and goes beyond mere increasing income or productivity. A country could be able to increase income or produce more over a period but her people may still not be happy or more so meet basic needs(say education) due to other influences.

Also, it might be rosy to continue to increase growth in the present but becomes unsustainable as time passes, which is why i would like to introduce the concept of SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.According to the Brundtland Report,
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."
it focuses on the limit of human needs/desires in relation to the environment; that is, these needs could only and would continues to be met so long as the environment is still available to do so. Things like pollution and degradation comes to mind here. Therefore, as we tread the path of growth, the environment should only not be harmed/neglected in the process but also protected so development could be achieved else, development could be hindered in the long run. Nigeria for instance has been able to increase her growth (though primarily through the oil sector) but depleted/harm the environment severely in this oil region which now makes her have to spend a huge amount in recuperating this region instead of spending that same money in other developmental projects.(so we increased growth but alongside hindered development)

Now that it is obvious that growth doesn't equal development, it is worth noting that development cannot be achieved without growth. In fact, growth is a very necessary condition (how can you expect people to be happy if income is not included which is also why we tends to equate it with development for its impact could easily and quickly be felt) but not alone sufficient for meeting development.

Finally, as talks/policies/figures on growth are taking the air, we need to examine them to know if they are channelled towards development. Also, without a strong dedication to a well built plan, country/people could be blinded by the fruit of growth as it becomes more rosy but forget that it could only last for a short period. Going by this analysis, it is also clear that Nigeria has been trailing the path of growth that is not effective (optimal gaol oriented), efficient (least cost oriented), reproductive (sustainable), infact, not development focused Therefore there is a need to visit and revisit her plans so our growth could actually lead to Development.

POPOOLA KEHINDE