Space Systems

Economic sustainability forms an important component of sustainable development. Economic sustainability is the maintenance and sustenance of a high real growth rate of the economy to achieve the development or economic objectives. Despite the huge resources in Nigeria, the country ranks low in economic performance.

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Nigeria has not been able to maintain the growth rate necessary to reduce poverty.

Nigeria suffers from lack of balanced development where economic, social and environmental dimensions are given due consideration for long term sustainable development.

Measuring and managing Nigeria‘s sustainable development is key to achieving the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The multiple challenges to development in Nigeria necessitate the use of a holistic approach that integrates economic, social and environmental dimensions. As stated under the economic objectives of Nigeria, the State shall harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity, and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy; control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity; manage and operate the major sectors of the economy; and protect the right of every citizen to engage in economic activities. The State also pledge to direct its policy towards ensuring the promotion of a planned and balanced economic development; that the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good; that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group; and that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled are provided for all citizens. The fulfillment of these objectives requires a sustainable economic development (Ayuba, Achuenu, & Musa 2014).

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Economic variables ought to be variables that deal with the bottom line and the flow of money. It could look at income or expenditures, taxes, business climate factors, employment, and business diversity factors. Specific examples include:

1. Personal income

2. Cost of underemployment 3. Establishment sizes 4. Job growth

5. Employment distribution by sector 6. Percentage of firms in each sector

7. Revenue by sector contributing to gross state product 2. Environmental Sustainability Measures

Sustainability is a characteristic of dynamic systems that maintain themselves over time; it is not a fixed endpoint that can be defined. Environmental sustainability refers to the long-term maintenance of valued environmental resources in an evolving human context. The best way to define and measure sustainability in the environmental viewpoint is to focus on natural resource depletion and whether the current rates of resource use can be sustained into the distant future. The over arching importance of sustainable development is geared towards the improvement of the quality of life in all its ramifications, provided that environmentally sound policies are pursued vigorously, and adhered to by society (Ademola, 2013).

The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987) defined sustainable development as ―a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‖.

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Theoretically, the long-term result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree.

Ugochukwu, Ertel and Schmidt (2008), stated that such degradation on a global scale would, if not addressed, of course mean extinction for humanity. In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems, all these are evident in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

The issue of sustainable development in Nigeria is still far fetch, although most of the foundations have been laid by government, for example: the formation of local Agenda 21 committees at the federal and state levels; inauguration of Environmental Action Plan committees at all levels of government; being a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and other international Treaties involved in environmental management;

upgrading an environmental agency (Federal Environmental Protection Agency – FEPA) into a full fledge ministry (Federal Ministry of Environment – FMENV); introduction of poverty eradication programs; and the commitment of the government to investing in environmental management strategies. Nigeria will start reaping the dividends of sustainable development only when the above programs and strategies are fully implemented (Ugochukwu, Ertel & Schmidt, 2008).

Environmental variables should represent measurements of natural resources and reflect potential influences to its viability. It could incorporate air and water quality, energy consumption, natural resources, solid and toxic waste, and land use/land cover.

Ideally, having long-range trends available for each of the environmental variables would

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help organizations identify the impacts a project or policy would have on the area.

Specific examples include:

1. Sulfur dioxide concentration 2. Concentration of nitrogen oxides 3. Selected priority pollutants 4. Electricity consumption 5. Fossil fuel consumption 6. Solid waste management 7. Hazardous waste management 8. Change in land use/land cover

The total solid waste generation in Nigeria is rising steadily due to increase in population while scarcity of reliable data has made the per capita waste generation trend inconclusive. The estimate of waste generated per person in a day is 0.49 kg with households accounting for 90% of the urban waste (Solomon, 2009). The generation per person in cities at particular time intervals vary from 0.13 to 0.25 kg/day in Maiduguri to 0.47 kg and at the top of the range Abuja with 0.57 average (Wilson, Araba, Chinwah, Cheeseman, 2009). This is within the range of per person waste quantities in developing countries of 0.1 kg/day to 1.2 kg/day. Solid waste generation is strongly influenced by time of year, traditions, personal income (Solomon, 2009), household size and environmental awareness and concern. A study by Sridhar, Bammeke, & Omishakin (1985) found that individuals with higher income generated more waste than lower income people and respondents that were concerned about the environment generated less waste.

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It is considered pertinent to examine what environmental sustainability entails. As noted by Harris (2000), the need to achieve environmental sustainability is rooted in the recognition of the fact that the benefits of development have been distributed unevenly and there have been major negative impacts of development on the environment and on the existing social structure. It is recognized that many traditional societies have been devastated by depletion of forests, disruption of water systems, and intensive fisheries while urban centers in many developing countries suffer from extreme pollution and inadequate transportation, water and sewer infrastructure.

The fear is that if the trend continues, the achieved benefits of development may be eroded. There may also be a collapse of the ecosystem while the present and future development may be jeopardized (Ademola, 2013). Out of this grievous concern, there was global effort at addressing the problem of conflicts between environment and development goals by formulating a definition of sustainable development which has to do with meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

As further elaborated by Harris (2000), there are three aspects of Sustainable Development – economic, environmental and social. The bottom line is that a concept of sustainable development should be concerned with finding solutions to social inequities and environmental damage and at the same time ensuring a sound economic base. Thus, according to Harris, sustainable development approach recognizes that:

1. The conservation of natural capital is essential for sustainable economic production and intergenerational equity;

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2. Again from the point of view of neo-classical economic theory, sustainability has to do with maximization of human welfare which includes food, clothing, housing, transportation, health and education services, etc.;

3. From an ecological perspective, both population and total resource demand must be limited in scale and the integrity of ecosystems and diversity of species must be maintained;

4. With respect to social equity, the fulfillment of basic health and educational needs, and participatory democracy are crucial elements of development and are interrelated with environmental sustainability.

From the foregoing, it could be discerned that achieving environmental sustainability (MDG7) requires a holistic and multi - sectoral approach which must also recognize the need for wider participation in terms of policy formulation and design of projects and programmes as well as their implementation and monitoring (Ademola, 2013).