ABSTRACT
Chapter 10 recapitulates aspects of the overarching theme of this book such as state and citizenship, civic political culture and value change, the role of political structures, basic tools for national development planning, and the evolving nexus between emerging demographic and population trends and urbanization. Utilizing historical and contemporary data on national population growth and forecasts, the chapter illuminates the more enduring challenges Nigeria would have to deal with as it engages its national development planning for the years ahead. It also elucidates the problem of a growing but unemployed youth population, the role of government in macroeconomic adjustments, and the lack of effective residential ‘rent control’ mechanism – as the major cause of urban decay and degeneration that is witnessed in many of the major cities. The chapter ends by providing a critical assessment of the Buhari administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017–2020) and its short and long-term implications for the country’s economic renewal and national development planning.
