Sustainability is the capacity to endure through renewal maintenance, and nourishment in contrast to durability, the capacity to endure through unchanging resistance to change.
Sustainability is a major obstacle, which cannot be achieved as poverty in my locality is beyond imagination.it has been widely acknowledged that poverty is one source of environmental degradation. According to reports, poverty is a major cause and effect of global environmental problems. It is therefore futile to attempt to deal with environmental problems, without a boarder
perspective that encompasses the factor underlying world poverty and international inequality. Individual living in poverty tends to rely heavily on their local ecosystem as a source for basic needs.
Poverty is the oldest and the most resistant virus that brings about devastating diseases in Nigeria, which kills more than any other killer diseases. However, poverty is one of the most retarding and devastating factors in human life and it the root of underdevelopment and insecurity Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Poverty has being a source of encouragement to a massive emigration of Nigerians to Europe, and other foreign countries, to seek for greener
pastures. They use all unconventional means to make sure they leave their homeland for good to a land where they are subjected to different forms of modern slavery. Yet the mass evacuation continues despite all attempts to eradicate such act. This only helps to reduce the economic manpower of the continent, which ought to be nurtured. Shareholders, who have tried to salvage the poor from their plight through financial assistance, have often missed the target. Assistance does not reach the real targeted people, as they are
diverted by some government administrator and so called contractors into their private use at the expense of the poor. Hence, donors could eradicate such corrupt practices by giving assistance and resources to local governments and organization at the grassroots level.
In a society where poverty has hindered the thinking of the people, as feeding of any sort of food to provide strength is not available. They die of abject poverty, and are left with no hope or with a flash of miracle that things would get better, since the population increases on per second basis.
Population in Africa is one of the greatest ethical challenges that left a high range of African countries with a threatening illiteracy rate. Illiteracy has remained a terrible ulcer on the leg of development in Africa. It is one of the forces turning the wheel of sustainable development in Africa anticlockwise. If poverty prevails in African societies, then the dream of sustainable
development will still be far-fetched.
Literacy is fundamental to helping societies acquire the skill to lift them out of poverty and work towards sustainable development. Low level of literacy and education in general can severely impede the economic development of a country. The highest illiteracy rates are found in less developed nations of Africa, Asia, and South America where womens illiteracy exceeded
50%. Literacy is an extremely important goal for the realization of a sustainable development, helping to boost health, and wealth rates, promotes gender equity and reduces child mortality.
The fight for survival, through an illiterate bearing has promoted the movement of people from Nigeria, leads to urbanization. There are adverse effects of urbanization, which increasing competition for facilities due to the high standard of living in urban areas, which has triggered several negative effects. Many people including farmers who moved to cities in search for a
better life end up as casual laborers as they lack adequate education. Illiterates who migrated to develop cities are faced with unemployment, as they would need a qualification to be employed. Hence, such people are often involved in crimes.
couple of lessons have been learnt, in the northern part of nigeria where i grew up. family planning as got no space in their vocabulary, therefore, providing population whose effect is far beyond control. young northerns that cannot cope with the hardship in slums, travelled to lagos city to source a fair living, therefore over-crowding the city and employment for the illiterate is just labourers . most of them found it difficult to live there, as language barrier is a major problem of communicating.
Consequently, rural areas being deserted by these people are faced with a low manpower, and the urban areas are faced with environmental such as air pollution, and destruction of forest areas to provide an urban settlement. However, it is impossible to restrict urbanization, since it can ensure the right path of development.
This graph indicates the total increases in population of urban vs. rural areas.
BALANCING THE RESPONSIBILITIES:
The most disturbing form of conflict between the sphere of poverty, illiteracy, and its effect on migration is linked to environmental degradation, economic development, population growth and
violent conflict. There is need to widen the range of livelihood choice available to poor men and women, taking into consideration, gendered differences in rights over land and resources. This implies a need for non-environment focused interventions such as market-based initiatives to
enhance environmentally sustainable development. Other poverty reduction focused measures are also prerequisites for environmentally sustainable development.
Despite the high illiteracy rate in Africa, it would be agreed that it could be blamed on over-population and poor governance. Population in any corner of the world affects the sustainable living of the inhabitants, balancing consumption, and technology. Thus, a balance population rate implies comfortable standard of living, free from hunger and insecurity which
enables fulfillment without increasing physical consumption. Only non-physical things like intelligence, education, health can increase indefinitely. Halting population growth is a vital part of living sustainably, by educating people at the local level through availability of contraception
or limiting birth rates through legal regulations, educating people about family planning, would played a major role in the agenda of keeping mortality rate under a good standard, as it is one of the best ways of addressing the environmental and resource challenges faced by the world. High
birth rates are commonly in least-urbanized continents, Asia, Africa. Over population are seen as breeding grounds for social problems such as crime, unemployment and poverty.
Furthermore, overpopulation poises inadequate fresh water for drinking as well as sewage treatment and affluent discharge. Some countries like Saudi Arabia use energy expensive desalination to solve the problem of water shortages. Hence, depletion of natural resources, especially fossil fuels, increased level of pollution, deforestation and loss of ecosystem.
In conclusion, mainstreaming sustainable development promotes a convergence of agenda at global, national, and local levels, so it must be addressed as a cross-sectional goal. However, cultural diversity
helps communities adapt to locally available resources. Illiteracy, over-population and poverty needs to be eradicated in order to achieve sustainable economy and avert disaster facing the planet.
REFERENCES:
I. Environmentally Sustainable Development and Poverty: A Gender Analysis by
Rachel Masika and Susan Joekes October 1997
II. World Resources Institute, 1994, ‘Women and sustainable development’, in World
Resources: a Guide to the Global Environment People and the Environment.
III. Yunus, Muhammad (1987): Credit for Self-Employment: A Fundamental Human
Right. May, 1987, Grameen Bank.
AHMED HUSSAIN
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