Stacy Hilliard: Development Challenges In Nigeria

Integrity was delighted to welcome Stacy Hilliard, principal consultant and founder of Taysha Consulting as a lunchtime speaker. Stacy is an expert in Communications for Development (C4D), which focuses on behavioural change within organisations, media development and the use of innovative communication techniques. She also specialises in the management of international development consultancies, with a particular focus on strategic communications and policy development. During the event at Integrity, Stacy offered a presentation on the development situation in Nigeria, which was followed by a broader discussion.

Nigeria is a federal state and the largest oil producing state in Africa. Reliable high-speed internet connections and mobile data connections are available, and travel is possible by road or via internal flights. There is also a strong pool of well-educated people in the country. However, operating costs in Nigeria are comparatively high, and security concerns are increasing due to the recent kidnappings of international workers in the North.

Another factor complicating the development environment in Nigeria is the issue of corruption which implicates politicians, public officers and other elements within the federal system. Furthermore, ratifications of international agreements are often delayed or not properly implemented; hampering foreign development agencies and consultancies that use such agreements as a base from which to operate. There are also significant cultural barriers to development in Nigeria; like the precedence of family ties compared with trust in state intervention policies for instance.

Research capacities are limited in Nigeria as there are only a small number of local research institutes and think tanks; even though there are lots of highly-educated people in the country. It is also difficult to find local partner consultancies and implementing partners to cooperate with. Therefore research capacity building as well as developing the local consultancy landscape in Nigeria are some of the country’s opportunities for development in the coming years. Field research in the North, considering the region’s instability, is another future operational challenge that the development community must address.

Integrity are very grateful to Stacy for sharing her expertise on the development context in Nigeria, and really valued her informative presentation.

If you would like to participate in one of Integrity’s lunch events as a guest, speaker or in the audience, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].