On a Coding Diet

Nigeria will need STEM development to participate in the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' and the evidence suggests that STEM development works best when it emphasizes already existing resource strengths.

Written by Fife Ogunde

Sep 3, 2019

WIKI

On 10 July 2019, Singapore announced that all its primary school pupils will take mandatory coding classes from 2020. In the wake of this news, Nigerians took to social media to reflect on Nigeria’s development and ultimately concluded that the country has little hope of competing on a global scale in the future. Truth be told, things do not look very promising for Nigeria at the moment. However, Nigeria’s prospects of relevance in the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ do not depend as much on its progress in science and technology (STEM) as some might think. Or, at least, not in the way we expect it to.

In making this argument, certain facts are worth noting. Amongst the top 20 richest people in the world, for example, only 30 per cent made their fortune directly from STEM-related areas. Others are fashion retailers, financial experts, oil magnates and stockbrokers. This appears to be the case even with new-generation billionaires. Only 40 per cent of the world’s billionaires under the age of 40 made their fortune from technology. Despite this, however, these numbers show that the tech industry is the largest individual contributor to the list of the world’s richest people.

Likewise, out of the 20 largest economies, services constitute over 40 per cent of GDP in at least 50 per cent of the countries. The service industry in the US contributes approximately 80 per cent of the country’s GDP. Among the countries in the top 20, only South Korea is regarded as heavily reliant on technology in securing its place among the economic superpowers. These trends point out something significant: perhaps our path to global relevance as a country is in developing what we have rather than trying to make false claims to what we do not have. This does not discountenance the crucial role STEM played in building fortunes or developing economies, it just means that STEM was an instrument in enhancing their strongest income-generating resource. But what are (or should be) Nigeria’s strongest income generators in 2019?

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About the Author

Fife Ogunde

is a legal researcher with a focus on international law and foreign investment into Nigeria. He is currently a visiting lecturer at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

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On a Coding Diet