I grew up listening to my father speaking continuously about the government and how she grossly waste everything from human to material resources,I thought he was just been to critical of Nigeria until he took his time once in a while to show us critical examples ranging from past Perm. Secs he has known from the early 80’s and how wretched the had become in the late 90’s,not worthy of mention was one he showed myself and my elder brother; the man was almost double bent over obviously from trekking with tattered clothes accompanied with shabby looks, I doubt he will still be alive now.

I observed from that tender age how we collectively wasted resources knowingly and unknowingly raging from as little as water, light to our rivers, roads trees and a whole lots on natural resources mostly either because we have lost touch with the word “value” or because we seem not to pay any dime for these resources we find at our beck and call.

My dad always told us to ensure we turned off every light bulb and gadgets that weren’t in use but our little-minds couldn’t comprehend that level of responsibility he was teaching then.

Fast forward many years from that my developmental phase, critically analyzing my current reality just makes my Dads home lecture series has become most handy and can be traced to be one of the major problem of the society we have found ourselves in especially in this parts of God’s creation were we find ourselves.

Big things starts small and in almost infinitesimal traces be it character development or adopting traits etc.
We have grown a system were value has almost become obsolete or only used when there’s an eminent pecuniary gain to benefitted.

What is not valued is most likely useless in the long run. The value we place on objects goes a long to show how it is maintained and serviced continually to ensure it keeps working or remain in a perfect condition at all times, fusing that to natural and human resources, the value derived is what makes the resources to be maintained to prevent it from break down or total collapse.
One of the major indices of a society that is working or that can be seen to be making consistent steps towards development can be measured by the literacy level of that society, education is the hub for any society’s advancement.

Its however a sorry situation we find ourselves in in Africa most especially Nigeria were graduates flood the streets from all its angles in search of opportunities to utilize knowledge acquired through a rigorous system that is plagued with same chaotic circumstances like the country. A rough estimate of graduates who go through the forceful NYSC scheme which has long outlived its relevance is about ninety thousand (90,000) per batch multiplied by three(3) yearly.
Those who can manage the situation are forced to seek a second degree all in the hope of hitting a better job, but that is also another great scam, as the system isn’t designed to appreciate value, so no worth is viewed as beneficial in this system.

A Very Objective Critique of the State and Level of Mammoth Waste in our Country (by now, Waste is both Material and Human Resources), points to the fact that, Every Sector of the Nation has far more Productive Resources being "wasted" than the one being put to good use. Our Ideology of Waste is fuelled by a lot of factors, Ranging from Tribalism to our Infamous Federal Character, to the "man know man" syndrome, Corruption and a host of others.

Taking Time to Research on our Past wastes, which has put our Nation in its Dire position now, I was able to come up with a few which would come under Review here;


Health
It is an Open Secret and according to Research, the Number of Qualified Nigerian Doctors in Saudi Arabia and The United Kingdom, is twice more than the Total number of Doctors in Nigeria. Take a minute to digest that fact. It sounds Abusurd, but it is the Simple Gospel truth. We have had a lot of our Finest Brains in Medicine, leave the country in search of greener pastures. We keep hearing names of Nigerians pulling jaw-dropping feats and achievements in the Health world , in other countries, thereby making where they are some sort of Medical attractions, which well, means influx of people from allover, coming to spend to get the best of medical attention, need I say more on what that means to the Economy of Such country? Have we Stopped to think, if such were to be happening in Nigeria? No, we would rather prefer to go abroad on Medical tourism, waste our hard earned Money to boost the GDP of another country, and turn round to come back to complain of an Ailing Economy, in this case, we are losing both ways, our best brains are abroad, we are also going there to spend raw cash.

Sports:
While growing up, I watched Olympics, and At the Sydney 2000, in Australia, I watched Nigerians like Gloria Alozie turn out for Spain and Francis Obikwelu dorn the Colours of Portugal in track and Fields Events, and they shone in bright Colours, I could remember the adults around me say "if only it was Nigerian they were representing" if Only!!!, Fast forward to Athens 2004 in Greece, A certain Philips Idowu represented Great Britain, and he Oozed Class as he was miles ahead of his Opponents, "if only he was representing Nigeria", a certain Nigerian "David Alaba" is arguably one of the Best defenders to ever play for Bayern Munich of Germany, we all watch him and can testify to his raw talent, He plays for the Austrian National Team, as the Team captain, Well, talk of someone Else Appreciating what we trashed. The list is inexhaustible, those we know and those we don't know, Our country is not a Super-power in any sporting event anymore, Even in Africa, where we used to hold sway, yet at same time, it is our Nationals, that are giving other Nations Edge over us. Talk of Wasteful Nations, We lead the Pack by a long mile.

Economy:
Our Economy is either on the Verge of Collapsing or it has Collapsed Already, Either ways, The Economy Needs Salvage. According to a Story, I heard from Foremost Speaker, Fela Durotoye, Sometimes in the Early 80s, Finland was Compiling a list of Nations that Needed to Borrow Loans and other Credit Facilities, Nigeria was on the List, After Due exhaustive Deliberations and Consultations, Nigeria's Name was struck out from the list of Nations needing Help. Why? It was said that in 20 years time, Nigeria Would be a World Super-power and among the top 10 Economies in the World. That Recommendation was done based on what we had, things we were doing and projections by Economic analysts. Fast Forward, to more than 20 years later, that Economic Super-power to be is on Its knees, borrowing here and there to pay workers( Workers are still owed backlog of arrears), fund capital projects and her budget. Lots of Waste to Looting of National Treasury, to illegal waivers to Nationals and foreigners alike, Tax Evasion et al, have Amounted to Monumental Waste that is almost jeopardising the Future of a Once glorious nation. What happened to the Revenue gotten during the Oil Boom era? Which is the major source of Stolen Funds and wasted Resources. All gone down the Drain!! Unforgivable Waste! We all had Opportunities as other Oil producing States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the likes, there is no need Rumbling over how many Light years they are ahead of us.
Human Resources

In Nigeria as a Nation, I noticed we are very good at Something, putting the Wrong Peg in the Right hole, and we celebrate Undeserving people and Superficial Achievements. Some of our best brains are wasted or forced out, like I have mentioned earlier because, Well they did not know any God father, did not have money to buy their way through a job or a qualification, that should normally be gotten on merit. A situation where the wrong people are put in charge or awarded undeserving achievements leaving the deserving individuals out in the Cold, it is just a norm, we should be faced with a sever brain drain and abundance of confused individuals in corridors of power. Talking about brain Drain, this leads me to my Final and the most important Waste Category;

Education
There are More Nigerian Professors in the United Kingdom than in Nigeria, and increasingly we are having Nigerian Dons becoming head of a lot of Universities in the UK, that's a Nation that appreciates and Values our citizens better than we do. Remember, they are not Britons, which could have been why they hold such enviable positions, even if they were to be Britons, they were first Nigerians. Asides Professors, for we that are conversant with happening in the Academic world abroad, week upon Week, there is always a news of a Nigerian making a piecemeal of an academic record abroad, but where are they? They never come back, because they know, their know-how would be valueless and put to waste in a Nation that never appreciates, some would rather become second-fiddle abroad as long as they are being valued. Back home here, I have seen and read news of young prodigies building Aircrafts, cars and some very Good innovations in various Universities, what becomes of those Feats? They only enjoy a week or two of rave reviews in National Dailies then, we hear nothing of them again, and their inventors Slowly drift into oblivion and irrelevance, or as it is always the case, the lucky ones run overseas and put their brains to good use there. Our Universities are just but Relics and Antiques relying on Past glory to face the future and not waking up to the realities demanded by an ever dynamic Society that has become a Global Village. Like it is always my Belief, The tuition fees paid are just a rip off by the institutions, as the knowledge imparted into Students is not of any use and can hardly make any Impact in the Society, thereby making a large chunk of graduates unable to compete favourably with peers from other parts of the World.

Spending and Saving Culture
Austerity and Frugality are two words that do not sit well with Nigerians. From the government to the average citizens, Every year, we are faced with stories how governments is paying 3- 10 times over for the price of a product or Service. In Lagos Alone, it is said that #3billion Naira is spent on parties , "Owambes" as the yorubas would call it every 6 months across the state. These few indices only show how shallow and shaky in value we are and how the wasteful tendencies we have, when we would rather spend more on liabilities and on assets.

INFRASTRUCTURE
From our Refineries, to the Ajaokuta steel company, to the Tinapa Resort, to the Textile industries and a whole lot, we have lying fallow various abandoned capital projects that had it been they are functioning, our economic story would have been different today. The first phase of the Ajaokuta Steel Industry according to my Research, if completed would employ 15,000 people, and it has three phases. Asides it's ability to put make Nigeria a world power in Steel Manufacturing, Steel is needed on daily basis world wide, Car manufacturers, for Weapon production e.t.c. Not to even mention the abysmal state of our refineries, which makes us have to export to refine our oil and import it back to the masses at a more expensive price. Need I say more?

Youths
*Sighs, The majority of the Nigerian citizenry, also wallowing in utter Waste, grappling with a deformed Value System that Encourages corruption and makes them believe having Good virtues is a waste of time, leaving us with most times, Educated Criminals. An average Nigerian Youth, is taught to be a Consumer, play safe, be average in thinking, rather than be a Producer, Risk-taker, forward thinking and Creative Fellow, This is a great waste considering how ingenious an average Nigerian youth is. A typical Nigerian youth is Lazy to think, get knowledge, make research and challenge status quo. Their Laziness is also aided by a system that encourages Social Vices above hardwork. A Nigerian young adult can go to a club, Spend close to a #100,000 or even much more in 2 hours, Spend 200k- 300k on the latest Samsung or Iphone, but find it very Difficult to buy a very Good book for #500.

In conclusion, I am forced to believe that, Nigeria would continue to grapple with Mediocrity and Lack, as long as we don't have a Maintenance Culture, not to mention our Deformed and Warped Value system. We place Premium on the Wrong things always, pay attention to the irrelevant and feel belittled by knowledge. What we place Value on, how much we cherish our assets would determine how far we can go. I learnt a lot of bitter truth reading Ben Murray Bruce new book, " The Common Sense Revolution". The reasons a lot of our problems persists is because we are tackling it from the top, rather than from the Roots. Do you uproot a bad or unwanted Tree from the top or from the Middle?
I hope we can learn a few hard lessons. I so submit.

CC: lalasticalala, mynd44

It is like saying that the Black bike week which ended yesterday on Myrtle beach is an unproductive activity.
Owambe is an economic activity.
It is very much part of the leisure,tourism and hospitality business.
Food and drinks are bought,caterers are employed, event venues leased, tailors employed, hotel rooms booked etc
Out of these associated activities comes jobs, jobs,jobs
That the state government's gave been unable to get value (tax) out of it does not mean it is not there.
Had it been that all the VAT on drinks( hard and soft) were going to the states and not the FG.

Well thought out piece, We want people like to come run for office, most of our leaders are either corrupt or incompetent