The accessibility of healthcare services and drugs are limited for the less privileged. Healthcare in Nigeria focuses mostly on primary healthcare, which of course is important but too much focus on these issues are to the detriment of other areas. There is little or no mention of preventive health care, health care maintenance or the increasingly non-communicable common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases. Health awareness, good housing conditions, clean water, appropriate sanitation are some important factors for a healthy, long life. However, in Nigeria, there is lack of awareness and lots of water pollution mostly in the rural areas which makes it difficult to have access to potable water.
Abstract Increasing inequality in Nigeria has been of growing interest to scholars, international political observers and the Nigerian public since the creation of the country in 1914 by the British colonial masters. The focus of this paper is on the extent to which the practice of democracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic has contributed to the reduction of inequality. The paper begins with the dimensions of inequality in Nigeria. The study shows that democratic governance has not adequately bridged the inequality gap in country. The paper further identifies reasons for the failure of democratic governance to address the problem of inequality successfully.
Democracy and Inequality in Nigeria Nathaniel Umukoro Department of Political Science Delta State University, Abraka ABSTRACT Increasing inequality in Nigeria has been of growing interest to scholars, international political observers, and the Nigerian public since the creation of the country in 1914 by the British colonial masters. The focus of this article is on the extent to which the practice of democracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic has contributed to the reduction of inequality. The article begins with the dimensions of inequality in Nigeria. The study shows that democratic governance has not adequately bridged the inequality gap in country. The article further identifies reasons for the failure of democratic governance to address the
No form of political reform can be achievable in Nigeria without eliminating corruption. Corruption remains the most endemic problem in Nigeria. The objective of this fight would be to reduce corruption, root out nepotism, and eradicate maladministration in the public and private sectors in Nigeria. The presence of corruption created an environment similar to those that facilitate the rise of terrorism. The existing structures established to address this climate include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
Since majority of the people are poor, they find it impossible to afford medical care in private hospitals. This results in high death rates especially among the poor and low income group. Increase in the number of deaths brings further hardships on families especially when the deceased was the ‘bread winner’ of the family. This sometimes results in children becoming victims of child labour and involvement in anti-social activities. The inefficiency in Nigeria’s health care system can be attributed to inadequate attention given to health care services delivery by the government.
In some parts of Nigeria, women are denied opportunities to get formal education and their girls are forced to early marriage subjecting them to maternal responsibilities. My focus on the research will be on the children, the children are the future of a country and so more attention should be directed to them. Child poverty should be a major concern in Nigeria, many children have been displaced due to one reason or the other for instance in the northern part of Nigeria where “Boko-Haram” is so rampant and considered to be a war zone. The affected children have been taken away from their normal lives they stopped schooling, no proper feeding and socially
More specifically, state failure denotes a lack of administrative capacity and political will in Abuja – the capital city of Nigeria – that are reflected in the economic breakdown, social fragmentation along ethnic lines and a general lack of security throughout the country. According to Jonathan Hill, what ‘failure’ practically means is that the state is dysfunctional and cannot perform two key functions: first, it does not hold direct control over all of its territory; second, it is not able to provide its citizens with security, basic services (such as healthcare and education), and other essential public goods . As pointed out by James Forest, nepotism, tribalism, and patronage play a key role in determining how the government is ruled and power and wealth distributed . This is because, as in many other African countries, holding positions of power means having access to natural resources and national wealth. Indeed, Nigeria has abundant raw materials (mainly oil, natural gas and coal) but their allocation is problematic to say the least .
Chinua Achebe, in his widely cited book, "The Trouble with Nigeria" accurately pointed out that "the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership." Leading a multiple ethnic and religious society such as Nigeria, while staying dedicated to democratic principles is a tough task. This is because integrating numerous ethnic groups into one political system brings along the fundamental issues of ethnic battles. Change is constant in any society and it takes a devoted leadership to achieve a remarkable change in a society. Since 1960, Nigeria has experienced successive societal changes.
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The level of development and poverty situation in Nigeria is quite disturbing. Both the quantitative and qualitative measurements attest to the growing incidence and depth of poverty in the country. The UNDP Human development index ranks 152 out of a total of 187 countries surveyed in 2013, with a life expectancy of 52.5 years and over 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line (UNDP, 2015). Asian countries, such as Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia, were in the same economic league with Nigeria in the 1960's with similar colonial legacy and natural resource endowments. Today however, these have recorded significant successes in, the development of their economies.
To be precise, that Nigeria has not experienced another civil war since 1970 is largely attributable to its federal practice (ICG, 2010). Multistate federalism in Nigeria has not only guaranteed self-determination through self-government for the diverse ethnic groups, but has also laid to bearest minimum the issue of disparity common to many federations including the Nigerian federalism of the first republic which spanned 1960-1966 (Clark, 2003). The emergence of democracy increased the access of all ethnic groups; majority and minority, to government. Likewise, it created an avenue for group deliberations, which has helped to create a common front against dictatorial inclinations. As buttressed by Jinadu (2002), for instance, the immoderate ambition of President Obasanjo to retain his position as president of Nigeria against the constitutional provisions is as a result of the public outrage of all groups at public and private