In the first part of this series, we called for economic summit in Nigeria to emphasize economic development path instead of Constitutional Conference which emphasizes the political development path. 

Our research showed that the political path to development in history has always been very slow, risky, uncertain, violent, etc. All the rich and powerful Nations in the world today are industrialised. Industrialisation is achieved through learning.

Learning rate is very important in the learning process. The higher the rate of learning, the sooner the individual and nation achieve milestones like speaking a language for the individual and achieving industrialisation for a nation.

Nigeria would achieve accelerated industrialisation in a few decades, if the nation mobilizes all the citizens for integrated learning (education, training, employment and research). 

The European and Asian nations which emphasized the political path in their development endeavour achieved the modern industrialisation in 2000-3000 years. Japan, China and Singapore confirm that a nation can achieve accelerated industrialisation by mobilize all the citizens for learning. 

This second part in our series calling for economic summit in Nigeria provides evidence that the reason European and Asian nations emphasized the political path in their development endeavour was because they did not know what to do to achieve the modern industrialisation.

This second part also provides evidence in support of our position that though virtually all the rich nations in the world today were corrupt while they were young, it was not corruption that made them to toil for a long time before achieving the modern industrialisation.

Similarly, it is not corruption that is the most serious obstacle to promoting sustainable economic growth and industrialisation (SEGI) in Africa, including Nigeria since African nations achieved Independence. It is lack of understanding of what to promote SEGI that is promoting stagnation in African nations.

History and our experience suggest that the prestige a nation enjoys among other nations in the league of nations is not determined by the sophistry and intrigues of politics but by its economic strength. We live in a dichotomous world of the industrialised, rich and powerful nations versus the non-industrialised, poor and weak nations today.

Nigeria would achieve more rapid progress by focusing on economic development rather than focusing on politics and its twin brother, corruption. Politics on its own does not mature; economic maturity precedes political maturity. No economic democracy (mass participation in the economic sphere of a nation – industrialisation), no political democracy (mass participation in the political sphere of a nation). 

So, it is wise for Nigeria to focuses on economic development. Stagnation invariably leads to violence. Virtually all the great nations of today experienced long-term violence and blood letting before achieving the modern industrialisation.

Since our research revealed how a nation achieves accelerated industrialisation it is wisdom to work to adopt it instead of waiting for political violence to occur before focussing on the economic path of development.  

The principal reason societies which emphasized the political path to development suffered for a long time is that they did not know what to do to achieve sustainable economic growth and industrialisation, SEGI.

But most people would say the long-suffering characteristic of European and Asian nations which emphasized the political path was due to corruption. No!

Because European and Asian nations did not know what to do to achieve SEGI, they did the wrong things. European and Asian nations were ruled by Kings. Societies ruled by Kings were stratified and demobilized.

There were no public educational institutions of any type for thousands of years, the opposite of mobilization of all citizens for learning suggested by our research results. The people were tied to the soil. They were poverty-stricken societies. No one solves a problem s/he does not understand, for a poor perception of a problem precludes finding the solution to it.

It was not for corruption that European and Asian nations toiled for thousands of years before they achieved the modern industrialisation which solved the economic and political problems they had suffered for thousands of years.

The experience of the British colonies which developed speedily to become the United States of America (USA), a world power, in just about 130 years, though the young USA was corrupt, the dramatic and spectacular finishing of Japan and China and the results of our research suggest that the very slow pace of development of European and Asian nations was caused by lack of knowledge of what to do to achieve the modern industrialisation. 

Indeed, the fact that clean Tanzania of Julius Nyerere’s years and clean Ghana of General Rawlings’ years did not achieve rapid economic and political progress demonstrated that lack of corruption is not enough condition to promote rapid development in a nation. 

The fact that European and Asian nations achieved the modern industrialisation, does not mean they understood the intellectual basis of the modern industrialisation. The West did not anticipate the industrial revolution it achieved beginning in England in 1770-1850 and still does not understand what it is and why the West achieved it (DeFleur, et al., 1977).

Our research showed that the West still does not understand the scientific basis of the industrialisation it achieved and why it is the leading region in scientific development in the world today. 

The Asians achieved rapid development by instinct recently and have not written scientific theories to explain what industrialisation entails.

 Much of education in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean is Western social sciences. How can a people whose education is based on false claim make rapid growth and development? University education in Latin-America patterned after European education began in the 16th century. 

The University of Santo Domingo was established in 1538 and more effectively 1558 (Fagg, 1969). The Universities of Lima and Mexico City were set up in 1551. Lati-American nations are still drifting after they have had five centuries of Western-styled university education.

African nations, including Nigeria are on the same development path with Latin-American nations. The Latin American experience of over 200 (two hundred) years since Independence is a warning that Nigeria seeks another development path now. 

Latin America and the Caribbean and African nations do not understand what must be done to achieve SEGI in a nation. These nations have the additional problem of being indoctrinated by the West to believe that mere capital investment promote growth.

This has been promoting impulsive borrowing and creating a highly burdensome national debt and external control of the indebted-nations. The future of Latin and Caribbean and African nations is uncertain. There is an urgent need to focus on economic development and save the nations in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa.