During every discussion of the causes of our low level of development, almost all discussants point at illiteracy as a major reason without any mention of its twin, innumeracy. This shows the level of ignorance as to the level of havoc innumeracy can wreck on a society, which may surpass what the illiteracy can cause.
In simplest term, innumeracy refers to a situation in which an individual lacks the knowledge of numbers and cannot use them in calculations, whereas illiteracy is a situation where a person cannot read or write. What this means is that a person is literate if he or she can read, write, and numerate.
At this point, the question that can comes to mind is this: what are the problems that can be associated with innumeracy or low level of numeracy? The answer is simple: a whole world of problems.
We can see around us today many uncompleted projects by governments and individuals. There is no way a person with a monthly income of fifty thousand naira can complete a fifty million naira project in his lifetime.
Furthermore, low level of numeracy can lead a public servant into corruption and financial mismanagement. This is because experience has shown that the last person to be trusted with public finance is a person under financial pressure.
Perhaps, it is in our politics that innumeracy causes the greatest problem. In Nigeria, electoral success is a matter of which candidate can out-promise the other and not who is more competent as most of the voters are not numerate enough to evaluate the feasibility of the projects they are promised. Even in worse situations, we see renowned academics functioning as adhoc electoral officers battling with calculations on live television. One cannot begin to imagine how this poor knowledge of numbers has impacted on the outcome of our elections and emergence of our leaders especially in cases where there is sincere ignorance among our electoral officials.
We will continue to face serious challenges in our quest for economic development if we do not deal with the problem posed by innumeracy. The most effective approach will be for us to improve the level of Mathematics our pupils are taught, especially at the basic education level. This is because besides improved level of numeracy being good for our political advancement, it will also be very helpful to for youths who may find themselves in other fields of endeavour.
Written by ALEX OFOJEBE
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