2018 : Goodbye to a turbulent year

In less than 24 hours from now, the year 2018 will be grinding to a halt with all its turbulence and Nigerians will not forget the year in a hurry for all its challenges across the various sectors of the economy.From the political scene to the economy, and from the health sector to education, 2018 has been quite a challenging year for both the government and the governed.  Insecurity, crux of Nigeria’s problem – Prof. OdohWith just less than six weeks to the commencement of the 2019 general elections, Nigerians are still worried over the general state of insecurity in the country, coupled with continued fatalities from terrorism. The recent killing of a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd), who was also a Chief of Air Staff,  is a pointer to the problem. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Point in Abakaliki , the Ebonyi State All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in the 2019 general elections, Prof. Bernard Odoh, said,  ”The crux of the Nigerian problem is insecurity.”Odoh, who is also the immediate past Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government, said, ”A system where there’s no security of life, property, health, food, education, job, family and social affairs is doomed.“In a secure society, the people are more productive and content; they know that their needs are adequately taken care of by the government. In such a system, greed and corruption naturally go down on their own.“For me, until Nigeria is rightly structured on the basis of constitutional equality, economic viability and a functional model of a workable political system, the existing profound challenges and political upheaval won’t be addressed.”Millions of Nigerians have no faith in the Nigeria of today as it is currently structured…Nigeria as a country hasn’t been properly defined constitutionally, politically and economically.  Hard work, meritocracy, respect for rule of law, justice and fairness and free market system etc which are cardinal values and tools upon which nations are built, have no place in our current Nigeria state.” Malnutrition still ravaging Northeast- UNICEF In the health sector, the endless search for quality healthcare continued in the year 2018. Though, there were still a few achievements recorded during the year,  the setbacks, really, far outweigh the achievements with serious malnutrition still ravaging the Northeast, according to a recent UNICEF report, just as the aspirations of many Nigerians, as far as affordable and quality healthcare are concerned, had not actually been met by the Federal Government. Instability takes shine off modest gains in educationThe country recorded several achievements in the education sector, but the instability in the academic calendar of most tertiary institutions, stakeholders say, has taken the shine off the achievements.A former Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Ibidapo Obe, said the Government did its best but the setback in the sector actually outweighed the efforts of the Government.Not yet uhuru for the economyFor the economy, it is not yet uhuru as all efforts to put the economy back in shape have been futile. President Muhammadu Buhari actually confirmed the bad state of the nation’s economy to the state governors about a fortnight ago in Abuja. And with the recent crash in the price of oil in the international market, the country may be facing hard times as far as the expectations of revenue to fund the 2019 budget are concerned. And with the elections just around the corner, indications have emerged that the budget may not even be discussed by the National Assembly until after the elections.