STEM EDUCATION AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR ACHIEVING ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION IN NIGERIA

STEM EDUCATION  AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR ACHIEVING ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION IN NIGERIA

Professor Mustapha Muktar

Department of Economics

Bayero University Kano

muktaronline@gmail.com

http//:www.mustaphamuktar.blogspot.com

Outline

•Introduction

•Concept of  Diversification

•Economic Diversification

•Need for Economic Diversification in Nigeria

•STEM Education

•STEM Fields

•Target Sectors for Economic Diversification through STEM Education

•Challenges to STEM Education in Nigeria

•Conclusion

•The Way forward

Introduction

•Nigeria is the most populated African nation with a population of about 160 million. The nation is made up of people of diverse cultures and religions endowed with many natural resources scattered in different parts of the territory

• At independence in 1960, the main source of the nation’s revenue was agriculture and extraction of solid minerals. The discovery of petroleum in the country in the 1960s and the blooming of petroleum in the global market led to her over dependence on petroleum and a gradual but consistent neglect of agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

•Today petroleum accounts for over 90% of Nigeria’s export revenue and over 80% of the government’s budget Most of this petroleum revenue has been mismanaged through corruption, and myopic short term economic programmes. The situation has left the economy of the country at the mercy of the vagaries (Jekwe, 2015)

•With the continuing decline in global oil prices coupled with decline in crude oil output due to the activities of militants in the Niger Delta region,  declining in the demand of the crude oil from our major importers, and sourcing for alternative energy by other crude oil importing countries left Nigeria with no other choice than diversification of its economy from mono product economy to diverse one

•Nigeria’s intrinsic potential lies beyond oil; harnessing this potential has become an imperative given the expectations of lower for longer oil prices based on recent trends

Diversification

•Diversification entails the creation of many productive avenues such as in agriculture and industry, by the introduction of a greater variety of agricultural and industrial produce, or in terms of creation of entirely new productive sectors

•It is the process whereby a growing range of economic outputs are produced, It can also refer to the diversification of markets for exports or of income sources.

•To diversify an economy first, there is need to give priority to the development of agriculture and industrial raw-materials locally

•Initially industrial capability of the country in producing exportables will be greatly enhanced and food security would also be achieved

•Secondly, policies must be deliberately shifted away from inward-looking industrialization around the home market towards systematic efforts to export industrial products

•Third is marketing and export promotion strategy such that marketing will help to export the manufactured products to earn foreign exchange

Economic diversification

•According to Anthony and Chukwudi (2015)Economic diversification refers to broadening the range of economic activities both in production and distribution of goods and services

•It is a process that helps and immunes a country from volatility of a single commodity. Economic diversification is generally taken as the process in which a growing range of economic outputs is produced

•To Samuelson (1968, in Ojefia 2016) economic diversification is an act of investing in a variety of assets. Its benefit is that it reduces the risk, especially in the time of recession, inflation, deflation, etc.

•Economic diversification has been used as a strategy to transform the economy from using a single source to multiple sources of income spread over primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, involving large sections of the population

• By implication economic diversification implies a large-scale of structural transformation in the way value is crated in an economy and the way it is distributed across the different sectors

Economic Diersification

•To insulate the economy from the risk of being vulnerable to a single commodity (oil) as oil price is volatile (it exhibits shocks)

•To create jobs that can raise the standard of living of an average Nigerian: Oil and Gas jobs account for less than 1% of total employment and the working population can no longer be absorbed by the public sector

•To prepare for life beyond the oil resource. Thus, diversification has been the subject of numerous plans and initiatives by various governments

•To explore and tap opportunities and potentialities from other sectors of the economy (agriculture, manufacturing, education, construction and tourism)

STEM Education

•STEM is the abbreviation for Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

•It may include curriculum for career clusters other than engineering and computer science it can include healthcare science, agricultural science, biotechnology, and food and nutrition science

STEM Fields

•Science is  the systematic study of the nature and behavior of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms (Science, 2012)

• Technology is the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment (Technology, 2012)

• Engineering is the art or science of making practical application of the knowledge of pure sciences, as physics or chemistry, as in the construction of engines, bridges, buildings, mines, ships, and chemical plants (Engineering, 2012)

•Mathematics: is a group of related sciences, including algebra, geometry, and calculus, concerned with the study of number, quantity, shape, and space and their interrelationships by using a specialized notation (Mathematics, 2012).

Target Sectors for Diversification

Agriculture

•Besides being a potential source of export revenues, agriculture is estimated to account for close to 60% of GDP and 50% of employment making it a sector with a key multiplier impact

•The agricultural sector has the potentials of reducing food insecurity, providing raw materials to industries and feeding the west African markets as well

•STEM Education can help transform agriculture through research and development of modern methods of farming, high yielding variety seeds, modern implements, as well as modern animal husbandry,  horticulture, fishery and other in the sector

•By and large information technology which is a product of STEM education can be used to transform the sector by providing information on inputs prices, output prices and better marketing 

•Manufacturing sector in Nigeria have a vast potential for contributing to growth and development due to abundant labour force coupled with the agrarian nature of the economy. If well organized it would create more jobs and wealth for the citizens

•It will produce what we consume as a nation and generate foreign exchange by exporting  surpluses

•STEM Education if implemented well have the capacity of transforming the sector, this can be achieved through scientific researches and innovation and implementing the findings to develop manufacturing

•STEM also have the potentials of transforming relevant researches into a discovery and problem-solving arena. This encourages creativity and hence growth and development

• The technological process of conversion and transformation of raw materials into varying degrees and classes of goods and services for human consumption holds the ace for prosperity and national development

Chemical and nonmetallic mineral products

•Diversification of downstream sector of petroleum will develop petrochemicals, fertilizers, methanol and refining, industries relevant in both industrial and consumer products which Nigeria currently imports

•STEM Education if enhanced will produce labour force and facilities that can be able to transform and handle the sector locally thereby reaping all the benefits associated to the mining sector

•The development of the mining sector means a reduction in imports and increase in exports and consequently and increase in the foreign earnings and availability of products from the sector

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

•Information communication technology is one of the issues that occupy the international economic order. With globalization, the world is now integrated into an entity

•STEM Education is the backbone of ICT worldwide, therefore if well adopted, it has the propensity of tapping the potentialities and making Nigeria among the competitive economies of the world

•With a large population of young urban people, Nigeria has the opportunity to leverage mobile technology to generate improved social and economic outcomes across the consumer sector through e-commerce, e-banking, mobile banking and mobile insurance and other electronic based economic activities

Trade and Commerce

•Trade accounts for 17% of GDP and 23% of employment and has recorded average real GDP growth rate of 5.48 in Nigeria(LCCI 2016)

•The current retail distribution range from the traditional street trading and open market, to neighborhood groceries and now modern shopping malls

• The potential of this sector can be improved with effective STEM Education, through modernization of trade to conform to global best practices, this can manifest in trading online, making use of electronic payments, electronic marketing, and the design/utilization of business software's that are consistent with Nigerian socioeconomic and demographic experiences

•STEM Education if well embraced will overhaul Nigerian trading practices and make the goods and services traded to be competitive and to penetrate the west African markets as well as the global market at large

Healthcare and Biotechnology Industry

•Health has been defined as a complete state of physical, spiritual, emotional and social wellbeing and not just merely the absence of infirmity (WHO)

•A healthy population  can create wealth, an unhealthy population cannot deliver a healthy economy. Through STEM Education scientific achievements would led to longer, healthier, better lives

•And a healthier society means a more productive society that can harness resources and diversify the economic base

•STEM is central to biotechnology, molecular and robotic engineering which are importance in improving access to health care, provision of food and medicine necessary for human survival 

Challenges to STEM Education in Nigeria

•Inadequate Funding

•Inadequacy of instructional materials

•Teaching methodology

•Lopsided curriculum

•Inadequate STEM tutors

•Poor remuneration and improved work conditions of STEM tutors

•Poor Infrastructures

Conclusion 

•Economic Diversification is the widening of the economy to create opportunities for diverse activities to create a broad based economy

•It provides job for wide spectrum of people and stabilizes the economy against economic fluctuations of commodities, and sustains the developmental prospects of nations

• Nigeria needs to use STEM education as a conduit pipe to diversify the economy to create job opportunities and satisfy the basic needs of her large population and sustain the quest for development

•Economic Diversification revolves around STEM Education  and it should be exploited in Nigeria

•Science and technology is universal. It is in every sector. There is no sector that science and technology does not influence

•Money can not  buy technology it has to be acquired through STEM education and  skills

The Way Foward

•Improvement in funding Infrastructures and teaching materials is recommended by the respective governments

•There is the need for the curricula to address issues that are typical to integrate STEM education in all aspects of learning, in this way, We can rework education curriculum and re-engineer the structural system in such a way to give emphasis to STEM

•Tutors should be carried along in education policy and be trained and well compensated to be able to deliver STEM effectively

•The nation needs to invest its resources through technological development, skill acquisition and human development, and provision of economic and social infrastructure for her to be on the path of economic diversification (this can be achieved through STEM education)

References

• Aigbedion, I., & Iyayi, S. E. (2007). Diversifying Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry. International Journal of Physical Sciences, 2, 263-270.  http://www.academicjournals.org/IJPS http://www.academicjournals.org/ijps/pdf/pdf2007/oct/aigbedion%20and%20iyayi.pdf

•Anthony, I. Chukwudi, E.E. and Wilfred, I.U. (2015) Impact of Non-Oil Sector on Economic   Growth : A Managerial Economic Perspective, Problems and Perspectives on   Management, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2015

•Engineering. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/engineering

•International Monetary Fund (2014). Economic Diversification in the GCC: The Past, the Present, and the Future.

•Jekwe, I.(2015) Assessing the Future of Nigeria’s Economy: Ignored Threats from the Global Climate Change Debacle. Africa Economic Analysis. http://www.afbis.com/analysis/climate_change.htm

•Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries LCCI (2016) Nigeria: “Looking beyond Oil” Published by the LCCI

•Mathematics. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary. reference.com/browse/mathematics.

•Ogbu, O. (2012) Toward Inclusive Growth in Nigeria. The Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development Policy Paper. No. 2012-03, June, pp. 1-7
Olamade, O. O.; Oyebisi, T. O. and Olabode, S. O. (2014) “Strategic ICT-Use Intensity of Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria”. Journal of Asian Business Strategy. Vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-17.

•Ojefia, I.A (2016) Economic Diversification: Linking Vision to Action, Nigeria world, 2016

•Sanusi, L. S. (2010). Growth Prospects for the Nigerian Economy. Convocation Lecture Delivered at the Igbinedion University Eighth Convocation Ceremony, Okada.  http://www.cenbank.org/out/speeches/2010/gov_convocation_lecture-igbinedion-university-okada_2010.pdf

•Science. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary. reference.com/browse/science

•Technology. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology