BY JUDE OSSAI / ENUGU
Professor of Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Onyenekenwa Cyprian Eneh on Thursday took a hard look at the nation’s socio-economic and political problems, agreeing that dismal downward development trajectory led to Nigeria being designated as a failed state.
Eneh, in hs 183rd Inaugural Lecture delivered at University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC) entitled: “Taking Life to Higher Level of Development: Quitting the Abuse of Life and the Environment that Supports Life”, said, “The naked reality is that Nigeria has been on the list of fragile state since 2003.”
According to him, “It was predicted that Nigeria will break up in 2014, and later 2024, by a team of American researchers. A recent update on this prediction holds that Nigeria has moved from being a fragile state to a fully failed state in its last phase in which it would soon collapse.”
His words:
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“Nigeria manifests all the symptoms of a failed country, including inability of the government to protect its citizens, large scale violence and festering insurgency.
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“Chronic corruption has bred strong suicidal, murderous and consuming insecurity factors of Boko Haram terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, herdsmen assault (that kills, maim, rapes and deters farming activities), ethnic militia, and agitation for self-determination, among others.”
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“The country has remained in shambles. Unemployment rate has soared to the rooftops. Ethnic and religious interests have pushed away restructuring as a political panacea for the man-made chronic Nigeria’s ills.”
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Professor Eneh noted that his interest is that “Life is sacrosanct, too important and too valuable to be toyed with.”
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He maintained that development ought to improve the life and living standard of the population.
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“But, in Nigeria’s development trajectory reflects abuse of life and the environment that supports life, rather than progressive improvement of the living standard of the people. My interest is how to reverse the identified ugly trend and to take life to higher level of development”, he added.
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He further posited, “Since most pressing issues of life connect to environmental resources and sustainability, it is my considered opinion that a most important way to reverse Nigeria’s underdevelopment trajectory and to take the country to higher level of development is quitting the abuse of life and the environment that supports life.
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It was learnt that Professor Eneh began his career with UNN as Research Fellow/Lecturer 1 in the Institute of Development Studies in 2005. He steadily rose through the ranks and became a professor in 2018 and it qualified him to be a member of the University Senate.
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Professor Eneh has B.Sc. Industrial Chemistry, M.Sc. Brewing Science and Technology, M. Sc. Development Studies, Ph.D Environment Management and Control (Pollution Toxicology), all from UNN.
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The Inaugural Lecturer, who had consulted for World Bank, ĎFID, UNICEF, SMEDAN, among others, belongs to many professional bodies such as: Fellow International Society for Development and Sustainability, fisds (Japan); Fellow, Chemical Society of Nigeria, given (2014); Fellow, Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria, ficcon; Member, International Society for Markets and Development, miss (2010) Member, African Technology Policy Studies Network, mtps, Kenya .
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He has successfully supervised 2 Ph.D Theses, 16 M. Sc. Dissertations and 8 PGD Projects in Development Studies.
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