Introduction:
Development is not only
multi-disciplinary, where sociology, economics and political science show
interest in its study, but also multi-dimensional. As a multi-dimensional subject, development
encompasses every aspect of human endeavor.
For example, development includes culture, youth, health, population,
women, law etc.. Each of these dimensions plays a critical role in the process
of enhancing a sustaining development at the local and national levels. Accordingly, these dimensions cannot be
ignored.
The Cultural Import of Development and Underdevelopment
As a way of life which is
transmitted from generation to generation, culture plays a pivotal role in the
development and underdevelopment processes of Africa. Culture covers language, dress, cooking
utensils, family and marriage, food drinks among others. These are acquired or learned and shared. The
learning and sharing processes of these variables remain the crucible of
culture as a way of life.
Elsewhere in this book, it was
argued that there are two aspects of culture which influence development and
underdevelopment of Africa or any society.
First is the aspect of the cultural dimension which addressed the impact
of culture on the development of the less developed societies of Africa. The second dimension deals with the
indigenous cultural decay that has a dire consequence for the development and
underdevelopment process of Africa.
These perspectives indeed emphasize the social and cultural context of development.
For example, the experiences of
the colonial satellite sate in Africa testify to the irrelevance of imposed
educational structures. Family
organization, marriage laws, non-indigenous religion and social organization. All
these have had major implications for the development and underdevelopment of
Africa as has been reflected in the importation of values and imposition of
social institutions on the new nations of Africa (Sanda, 1985).
The structure of modern education
in Africa also indicates that there is increase in the number of schools,
colleges and universities. There is
equally a corresponding increase in school enrolment because of increase in
population. But few are indeed concerned
with either the content of education or the medium of instruction or even the
consequences of both for the thought process of our people or the value
preferences and the general cultural dependence of the educated child (Sanda
1992). We cannot afford to ignore all
these because of their implications for national development.
Formal education for example, in
nearly all African states is transmitted in the Queen’s English, French or
whichever language of the colonial masters. Perhaps this has to be so because
some African countries, do not have national language. And language it must be mentioned is a major
variable in culture. The consequence of
this training or socialization in schools and colleges, in the reproduction of
the western educated elites, who are basically African in their skin but
European in their values and behavior (what Fonon refers to as black skin,
white mask) deserves some considerations.
The Contribution of Western Culture to Africa’s Development
Despite the systematic
decapitalization of Africa through centuries of plunder, exploitation and
alienation, the discourse here cannot afford to ignore the contributions of
Europe to the development of African continent in the areas of the
telecommunication, religion among others.
The introduction of Christian
relation in African for example, changed the belief and philosophy of the
peoples of Africa. The killing of twins
that was in vogue in some parts of Africa was discouraged via the teachings of
Christian religion. This is a remarkable
achievement as increase in population results directly from this and population
is an asset.
Through the electronic and print
media such as television and radio, newspaper, the west has successfully
decampaigned the killing of twins and women circumcision in Africa. With western science and technology, the reasons
advanced for the practice of women circumcision for example have been
demystified.
Youths and Development
Youth as a concept has no precise
definition. In nearly all the
traditional African Societies, those who fall between 40-50 years of age are
still considered youths. And if anyone
within these age brackets is lucky to have his parents alive, the parents can
cook for him and teach him how to carry out some social activities which may
not be demonstrated here. This is
contrary to Europe and America where at the age of 18, the child is granted
freedom or Independence. However, the
standard definition still considers age as a major variable. Thus youths are those who fall between the
ages of eighteen (18) and thirty (30) years.
According to Nigeria’s 1963 national head count, youth constituted 45.5%
of Nigeria’s total population. With the
growth rate of 2.5% in 1991, the youths again constituted 45.9% of Nigeria’s
88.9 million people. Thus the position
which youths occupy in Nigeria’s demographic structure needs no emphasis.
Youths in any society have the
potentials to stimulate economic growth, social progress and overall national
development. The strategic roles of youth in the development process of
different society (ies) of the world such as the communist China and Israel
cannot be deemphasized. In Cuba, China,
Lybia and Russia for example, youths were the vanguard of the revolutionary
change which these countries experienced.
The outcome of these revolutions is the genuine national transformation
of these societies from a backward feudal to a technologically advanced
societies (Wilmot, 1985). In Israel,
there is an established institution of Kibutzism whose main philosophy is to
integrate and socialize the youths into the societal percepts and value for development.
Like
any other country in the world, Nigeria has her national objectives which
include;
a. A
free and democratic society
b. A
just and egalitarian society
c. A
united, strong and self-reliant nation
d. A
great and dynamic economy; and
e. A
land full of bright opportunities for all the citizens.
All these are contained in
Nigeria’s second and third National Development Plans of 1970-74 and 1975-1979
respectively. The rolling plans are part
of Nigeria’s value consensus, and the onus of realizing these national
objectives fall in the avid of Nigeria youths.
Through its youth schemes such as
the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme among others, Nigerian youths
have been able to actively participate in the actualization of some of these laudable
national objectives contained in the national plan.
Women and Development
Another dimension of development
is the role women play in the overall development process of the society. The general conception of the role women play
in the development process begins from the family unit, where the woman is
fully and actively involved in the socialization process. Socialization as a process of training shapes
the behavior of boys and girls from an early age. The child’s self-concept is affected by manipulation. Mother for example tends to pay more
attention to girl’s hair and to dress them in feminine clothes either for
school festivity or at home (Haralambos 2000).
Another aspect of socialization
which women are actively involved is the use of verbal appellations such as
“You are a naughty boy” or “You are a naughty girl”. This leads young children to identify with
their gender and to imitate adults of the same gender group. Also, male and female children are exposed by
women to different social activities in the community. For example, girls are particularly
encouraged to become more involved in domestic tasks such as sweeping, washing,
cooking etc. All these are attempts to
lay a foundation on which the development potentials of the future can be fully
realized.
The construction and development
of Nigeria’s major cities such as Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos etc were with the blood
and sweat of women. Women fetch water,
convey chippings and concrete from one building site to another. Apart from
their active involvement in these processes of development, women supply food
and table water to the building and quarry sites.
Also, the contribution of women
in the precolonial Nigeria is quite overwhelming. The growth and expansion of notable Hausa
city states such as Daura and Zaria were attributed to the key roles women
leaders played. There was the Queen
Amina of Zaria for example, who did not only lead a Military expedition against
some vassal states of Zaria but legend also has it that she provided a credible
and visionary leadership for the Zaria city state. The discipline and leadership style and
development attained during and after the reign of these female leaders provide
key to understand the level of civilization
and development attained in these parts of Nigeria in the precolonial
period. Additionally, great women names
such as Inikpi and Moremi featured in Nigeria’s precolonial history. In the central region of Nigeria legend has
it that these women (Inikpi and Moremiu) saved their communities from military
defeat by committing altruistic suicide.
The anti-colonial war of national
liberation was violent, radical and sweepy in nearly every part of Nigeria and
Africa. Women played key role also in
this process. For example, there was the
Aba women riot of 1929, the Agbekaya Peasant revolt in western Nigeria in the
1950s and the satire uprising of 1904.
These were clear manifestations of the women’s involvement in
anti-colonial struggles.
The Challenges
There are numerous problems women
face today in their quest to participate in nation building. For example society still discriminates
against them in terms of appointment into certain offices in the federal
establishment particularly where development potentials can be fully realized. Furthermore, limitations on women’s legal rights and participation in
civil society are widespread. In deed
political leadership positions are still largely occupied by men although women
have increasingly provided dynamic leadership in the non-government organization
(NGO).
Another challenge is the unequal
allocation of resources to women and inheritance laws. To survive, most women have embarked on over
exploitation of wood, water and other vital resources in order to meet
household requirements. Such over
exploitation of natural resources may result in serious and irreversible
environmental degradation including deforestation, decreased soil fertility,
and above all, desertification which would limit the development of agriculture
particularly in some parts of Northern Nigeria.
Population and Development
Population like youths and women
represents a major information input which is both a necessary and sufficient
requirement for economic, political and social development of any society. Three dimensions to population as an
instrument of development can be identified.
These include; culture, rate of growth and the composition of the
population. Other ancillary variables
include attitude of the people and level of fecundity of the people.
The cultural aspect of population
maintains that in the recent times, there has been mounting media propaganda
from the western world against increase in population in the third world
countries of Asia, Africa and South America.
This campaign is carried out effectively on the BBC, CNN, Time Magazine
among other megaphone of imperialism.
The general conception of this propaganda is that third world countries
have the tendency to increase their population geometrically without a
corresponding increase in the maintenance facilities. If this is allowed to continue, then the
economic gains would be swallowed by the large population. Thus on the advise of the World Bank, IMF and
other international development agencies, Nigeria and other third world
countries have rolled out population policies whose objective is to regulate
birth rate, by encouraging couple to have at most, four children after which
they can “shut up the factory” by whichever means available or suitable to
them. But this is being resisted because
it violates the norms and values attached to child rearing and production. In nearly every African society, every new
born child brings joy to the family and community at large. To advise women to regulate their
reproductive capacity is not only an insult to their reproductive capacity is
not only an insult to their intelligence, but a threat with extinction
(Heinecke, 1998).
Likely Exams Questions:
1. Contrary
to the bourgeois scholars, population is an asset rather than impediment to
national development. Discuss
2. The
role of women in national development is that of double edged sword. Discuss
3. Discuss
critically the role of youth in national development
4. What
is the place of culture imperialism in their world development?
5.
REFERENCE:
Otaki,
O. (2006) Sociology of Development: Kaduna, Nigeria.
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