By Chinua Albert Okafor (In Enugu)
Renowned Environmentalist and Development expert, Professor Onyenekenwa Cyprain Eneh, said on Thursday, that Nigeria presently manifests all the symptoms of a failed nation going by the existent high level corruption in the system, insecurity, violent crimes across the land, the prevalent insurgency and militant ethnic agitation, among others
Professor Eneh spoke in Enugu as guest lecturer at the183rd 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”.
Eneh who is a Professor of Development Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), stated that failing state of Nigeria was worsened by what he described as the inability of the ruling government to protect its citizens in the face of large scale violence and festering insurgency. He maintained that this has impacted negatively on the socio-economic, political and sundry development of the nation.
He pointed out that Nigeria's development trajectory reflects the abuse of life and the environment that supports life. The trajectory, he stated, has led to Nigeria being designated as a failed state.
Professor Eneh who held his audience captive with the facts and intellectual dept of his delivery, however stated that, “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.”
“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.” He opined that, “The naked reality is that Nigeria has been on the list of fragile state since 2003.”
According to Prof Eneh, “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".
He noted that his interest is that “Life is sacrosanct, too important and too valuable to be toyed with", asserting that development ought to improve the life and living standard of the population.
“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.
Eneh maintains that, “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.
The UNN lecture joined the services of the premier Institution in 2005 as a Research Fellow/Lecturer 1 in the Institute of Development Studies. He rose meritoriously to the eminent scholarly bank of professor in 2018 which consequently qualified him to be admitted into the hallowed membership of the Senate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Professor Eneh graduated from the UNN with a Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc.) in Industrial Chemistry and had his Masters of Science (M.Sc.) Degree in Brewing Science and Technology and another M. Sc. in Development Studies. He crowned his academic attainment with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Environmental Management and Control (Pollution Toxicology). . Over the years, the Inaugural Lecturer had consulted for both local international organizations including the SMEDAN, the World Bank, ĎFID, UNICEF, etc. Prof Eneh is a member of so many professional groups. Among them are the: Fellow International Society for Development and Sustainability, fisds (Japan); Fellow, Chemical Society of Nigeria, given in (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 . . Eneh has successfully supervised the academic project work (Thesis/Dissertations) of many Ph.D, M.SC.and PGD students in Development Studies. NNL.
