Harvard University Uses Nigeria as a case study of a failed African Country

September 4, 2019 The Fore Online Business 0


UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 03: Harvard banners hang outside Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. Community activists in Allston, a section of Boston across the Charles River from Harvard's main campus in Cambridge, say university delays have left a (Photo by Michael Fein/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By MT

Nigeria has yet again been ‘disgraced’ internationally, following as assessment Harvard University gave to its students in which Nigeria was used as a case study of a failed country.

The question Harvard University gave its students reads;

Africa is growing. Seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and the continent’s largest economies are becoming less dependent on extractive commodities. The continent’s rising middle class has demonstrated a taste for consumer goods and technology innovation, and Africa’s population currently more than a billion people- is booming and overwhelming young at a time when population on other regions are shrinking and aging.

Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy, epitomizes both the promise and the problems the continent faces in 21st century. The country had failed to thrive for its first thirty years as an independent nation, despite having a developmental head start relative to countries like China and India, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue. Now, after pathbreaking reforms followed by signs of retrenchment, Nigeria’s new President faced both vast opportunity and grave challenges. Would the country flourish or founder in this new era? We all analyze key reforms in Nigeria’s economy, significant political developments, and the choices facing the country’s fast-growing private sector.

  1. Why did Nigeria fail to thrive between 1960 and 1999, particularly relative to China and India?
  2. How would you characterize former President Obasanjo’s legacy?
  3. Are you bullish or bearish on the next fifteen years for Nigeria? What would make you change your mind? What opportunities do you see? What are the challenges (and risks)?

This is coming after a 15-year girl was offered admission to the prestigious Harvard University in United States of America. Sheela Ibrahim is the 15-year old daughter of a Nigerian immigrant family living in New Jersey, united State. Since news broke about Sheela incredible acceptance to 13 of America’s prestigious University, local and interactions media took interest int the test’s success story.

Source: howafrica.com