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CHAPTER  

12 

IMBIBING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION: A WAY OF ENHANCING 

SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SOME 

NIGERIAN SECTORS 
 

 

Godwin O. Uka, Chidiebere O. Onwuekwe, and Chibuzo Asogwa 
1Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 

2,3Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 

 

 

Abstract 

Creativity is associated with the generation of ideas, innovations and solving of many human 

problems. It is chiefly associated with the arts and human society. It is believed to have aided in 

revolutionizing many modern cities we have today. In Nigeria, creativity is viewed by many as a 

thing for artists, thereby ignoring its vast potential that could be deployed to solve problems in 

other human fields such as medicine, food and nutrition, education, law, etc. This study focused 

on assessing the possibilities of creativity and innovation as vehicles for solving myriad 

problems in Nigeria such as corruption, ethnicity, underdevelopment, etc, using a creativity 

quadrat diagram developed by Getlein (2008), as a paradigm. The research methods applied were 

descriptive research design and literature review. The findings of this study revealed that 

creativity can be applied by artists, doctors, politicians, teachers, and in their various endeavours, 

to fast-track the socio-political, and economic development of Nigeria. 

 

Keywords: Creativity, Innovation, Development, Nigeria, Political, Social 

 

Introduction 

Creativity is a deliberate human endeavour to bring about new phenomena and 

improvement in already existing ones. Scholars have asked questions as to whether creativity is 

limited only to the arts, or extended to other fields of human endeavor. However, It is “the 

production of a novel, appropriate ideas in any realm of human activity, from science to the arts 

to education, to business, to everyday life” (Amabile, 1997:40). Since creativity chiefly deals 

with the production of novel ideas, innovation is as subject matter, is therefore, a product of 

creativity. Because by implication, innovation entails the actualization of creativity. On one 

hand, creativity can be an individual affair, while on the other, it can be a collective idea, 

especially in an institution, such as a school or government. Moreso, Creativity means a belief in 



Contemporary issues in the Visual Arts in Nigeria 

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new ideas and making them into reality in the forms of new products or services provided by 

organizations in the marketplace (Kilroy, 1999). 

Creativity is usually associated with the arts whenever the subject matters are mentioned. 

However, we must aver that it spans to other aspects of human activities. Anyone can learn and 

practice the thinking skill of creativity. Some people might be better than others, with any skill, 

such as driving, cooking, tennis or soccer, art and design and others (Uka, 2018:143). As long as 

one possesses, and is capable of applying certain characteristics in doing things, such is 

creativity. 

Progressive countries such as America, Europe, China, Japan, and Singapore, have long 

imbibed creativity and innovation, and consequently, such moves resulted in drastic, 

simultaneous, and continuous development of their various sectors. Thus, there is always a need 

to progress and change in developed and developing nations, which could be a result of new 

technology and possibilities or because of changes in the world (Uka, 2018:144) 

In Africa, most countries have failed to imbibe creativity, to fast-track their development 

and progress. Rather, many African leaders, particularly in Nigeria had tolerated corruption over 

the years, and that had eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. Even all the efforts made by 

substantive leaders have proved abortive. It is either they were not sincere with such moves, or 

they are literally ‘blocked’ from attaining such progressive moves because their lieutenants were 

practically immersed in corrupt practices. During the 2015 general election campaign in Nigeria, 

the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised that fighting corruption was one of their 

fundamental goals. But, fast forward five years later, Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has 

not nipped it in the bud, but rather reports of embezzlement, mismanagement, and diversion of 

funds still fly over the news. Again they are unwilling to nip it in the Board. But why? Why has 

it lingered over the years since the independence of Nigeria from Britain? Thus, this has been the 

bane of the Country’s development for over sixty years of her independence. 

This paper discusses the idea of imbibing creativity and innovation towards 

developmental endeavour in Nigeria. Nigeria needs to make innovation and creativity the centre 

of its political and economic ideologies. The social and political development of any nation can 

be achieved through meaningful and constructive avenues. Herein, we shall attempt to use a 

quadrat designed by Getlein (2008) on creativity to proffer solutions to identified problems in 

some Nigerian Sectors. This research also discusses how creativity can be applied by artists, 

doctors, politicians, teachers, and in their various endeavours, to improve the state of the nation. 

 

Purpose of the Study 

Given the problem of this study, we ascertained the following: 

• To design a Creativity quadrat diagram that will be used to ascertain the importance of 

creativity in some Nigerian sectors. 

• To ascertain the importance of Creativity and innovation, and how they could be applied 

towards Nigeria’s social  and political development 

• To prove that Creativity and innovation, if applied properly, can reposition and fast-track 

Nigeria’s economic development 

• To prove that a country cannot progress effectively without applying creativity and 

innovations to her sectors. 



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Concept of Creativity 

Getlein (2008:12) asked salient questions concerning the nature and origin of creativity 

when he articulates thus - Creativity is a word that comes up often when talking about art, but 

what is creativity exactly? Are we born with it? Can it be learned? Can it be lost? Are artists 

more creative than other people? If so, how did they get that way? It refers to the generation of 

ideas and Innovation refers to the implementation of that ideas. Creativity is the mental and 

social process, fuelled by the conscious or unconscious insight of generating ideas, concepts, and 

associations Dimnwobi, Ekesiobi and Mgbemena (2016:30).   

Creativity is of three types; individual creativity, group creativity and organisational 

creativity (Mehtaa, Chandanib and Neerajac, 2014: 804). While individual creativity entails ideas 

by a single person, organisational creativity implies the collective creation and implementation 

of innovative ideas. Activities such as writing a novel by a single author, making art, thinking of 

a new process, etc, are individual creativity. 

Again, Getlein (2008: 12-13) agrees that creative people possess certain traits, including: 

• Sensitivity 

• Flexibility 

• Originality 

• Playfulness 

• Productivity 

• Fluency 

• Analytical skill 

• Organisational skill 

 

While sensitivity concerns heightened awareness of what one sees, hears and touches, as 

well as responses to other people and their feeling, productivity means the ability to generate 

ideas easily and frequently. Organisational skills are one’s ability to put things back together 

(Getlein, 2008:12-13).  

Akinboye (2004) sees creativity as a tool that propels organizations, catapults careers, 

and generate potent growth and viable outcomes. Runco (1994) opines that creativity, in terms of 

cognitive processes can lead to an original and adaptive insight, idea or solution. Thus, creativity 

is the most essential of all human resources and skills (Bolaji 2007). 

Creativity is more closely related to thinking abilities and attitudinal development. It is a 

continual process for which the best preparation involves creativity itself. The act of creativity 

can be seen as that which provides the urge for continuing exploration and discovery. Every 

child is born creative. The urge to explore, investigate, and discover, what is on the other side of 

the screen is not limited to human behaviour, but is experienced by the whole animal kingdom, 

(Lowerfield and Brittian 1975). 

Creativity can be given credit for being the catalyst in the process of growth from the 

very first moment. Indeed, a key driver of this growth has been innovation. In economics, 

creativity is the expression of mind power: It is the capacity to produce new ideas, thus liberating 

the stringent boundaries of the rationalist (Shawney, 2018).  

 



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Concept of Innovation 

Unsworth (2003) describes innovation as the process of engaging in behaviours designed 

to implement new ideas, processes, products, and services.  Innovation is the successful 

exploitation of new ideas: it is a profitable outcome of the creative process, which involves 

generating and applying in a specific context products, services, procedures and processes that 

are desirable and viable Dimnwobi, Ekesiobi and Mgbemena (2016:30).  It is, therefore, 

imperative to develop a new reasoning ability to think aright, explore possibilities and to be able 

to discover and combine meaningfully, as many ideas and experiences as possible to create a 

new form of knowledge. Similarly, Adewusi and Aluko (2019) add that innovation is the 

embodiment, combination or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, 

processes or services, or a  process of turning new ideas into practical reality. Consider that 

‘idea” in their submission entails creativity. Halila and Rundquist (2011), categorized innovation 

into three: Product, process and organizational innovations. Product innovation deals with the 

design, research and promotion of a novel good. Products such as consumables thrive where 

there is market competition, and what sustains it is innovations, in terms of promotion and 

product design. Process innovation is explained as new or enhanced tools, equipment, materials, 

and other technologies that directly affect the firms that are practising innovations; those firms 

produce the goods that are further sold in the market   Shuag, et al (2017: 297). 

Concept of Development 

Development is a process that ensures continuous growth, and progress in any system, 

such as state, school, and even the human or animal body. In this context we are concerned with 

the Political and Economic development of some sectors of Nigeria as a nation. The purpose of 

development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or 

expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the 

resources of the environment.  Development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, 

and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that 

change (Society for International Development-Isreal, 2021). Once the tempo of development is 

constant, it becomes sustainable. It takes the commitment of actors of the state and the economy 

to attain sustainable development. Nations and institutions alike are established with hopes of 

attaining revolutionary changes, and continuous growth in their systems, through the setting up 

of structures, strictly following laid down rules, and maintaining transitional consistency through 

change of administration.  

The Bane of Nigeria’s Socio-political and Economic Development 

Nigeria gained her independence in 1960 and adopted parliamentary democracy as her. 

That period experienced sectionalism, corruption and bad governance. That was what gave rise 

to the first coup and eventual military takeover of the polity.  According to Ani (2017)  

Plotters used corruption as a reason to justify military coups in 1966 

and 1967, whose aftermath threw the country into a civil war. Both the 

coups and the war paved way for almost three decades of military rule, 

interrupted only briefly from 1979 to 1983 when General Olusegun 

Obasanjo returned the country to civilian rule. Shortly after, the 1983 

coup of General Muhammadu Buhari ensured that the military stayed 



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in control of political power until 1999, when democracy returned to 

Nigeria. 

 

Decades of military rule which were hoped to be used to sanitise the polity, plunged the 

country into a speedy decay. Unfortunately, it lingered into civilian rule and never ended till 

today, despite the promisies of past politicians to nip corruption in the bud. Similarly, Ani (2017) 

add thus;  

The years of military rule were politically and economically disastrous 

for Nigeria. Corruption, already burgeoning under the early 

politicians, became entrenched under military rule, and a class of anti-

intellectual politicians came into being. The impression is that the 

military era squandered every amount of fiscal responsibility left by 

the British colonialists in the wake of independence in 1960. 

 

Bazza (2019:63) opines that corruption is one of the disturbing trends in Nigeria’s 

developmental process, despite its endowments. Aside from her immense mineral wealth with 

which crude oil resources are currently the most prominent, Nigeria is also endowed with rich 

agricultural lands, with a population of over 180 million, by far the largest in Africa (World 

Bank, 2016). Regrettably, Nigeria is yet to provide for her people, a quality of life that is 

commensurate with the numerous resources at her disposal (Kalejaiye, et. al., 2015) as 67.1% of 

the Nigerian population is still poor (NBS, 2016). A new report by the World Poverty Clock 

shows Nigeria as the capital of extreme poverty in the world. The failure to lift citizens out of 

poverty is an indictment on successive Nigerian governments which have mismanaged the 

country’s vast oil riches through incompetence and corruption (Ani, 2017). 

The worst of it all is police corruption which had been another impediment to Nigeria’s 

development. The police is an arm of prosecution of justice. However, in the case of Nigeria, 

corruption has saturated the rank and files of the force. Some factors contribute to the corruption 

in the police force. Some of the factors responsible for police corruption include inadequate 

salaries, inadequate manpower, improper training, lack of adequate professionalism; lack of 

necessary equipment, lack of adequate welfare package and functional law. Onyeozili (2005) 

contends that corruption gave the Nigerian Police Force a poor image in Nigerian society. Ikezue 

and Oli (2020:49) are of the view that Police corruption has impacted negatively on Nigerian 

society, and has frustrated efforts geared towards the realization of several policies, and 

programmes which would have led to making the country a preferred destination for both 

citizens and foreigners alike. 

Although the Nigerian government under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, founded The 

Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) in 2000, to prosecute reports of corrupt 

practices, and prosecution. Likewise, EFCC was established in 2003 to rid Nigeria of Advanced 

Free Fraud, scams, corruption and money laundering. However, despite all these efforts, 

Transparency International (2020) still ranks Nigeria 149 on the corruptions perception index 

list.  

Corruption has not only soiled the Government Agencies and the Police, it has also 

extended to the Paratatals, education sector, and so on. Moreso, corruption had gradually 



Contemporary issues in the Visual Arts in Nigeria 

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saturated the Judiciary, which is meant to be a watchdog to the executive arm. The worst of it all 

is the eventual gagging of the Judiciary in Nigeria by their paymasters – the Presidency. 

 

 

The Creativity Quadrat 

We developed what we named the creativity Quadrat diagram, using Getlein’s 

explanation of the qualities of a creative person. He specifically mentioned traits such as 

sensitivity, flexibility, originality, playfulness, productivity, fluency, and analytical and 

organisational skills. From there, we lifted the following; originality, sensitivity, flexibility and 

productivity and used the phrases to formulate the creativity quadrat, which is the basis of this 

research. On the chart (see Fig. 1), “creativity” sits at the top, and originality at the bottom. The 

quadrat is the link between creativity and innovation. Essentially, innovation means the 

actualization of creativity which must undergo these processes in the quadrat, namely; 

Originality, sensitivity, flexibility, and productivity, before it materializes creativity. 

 

 
 

Fig 1: The Creativity Quadrat. Source: The authors, 2021 

 

In the quadrat, originality entails novelty, ingenuity, resourcefulness, or inventiveness. 

Ideas come to play here, and it is the starting point of creativity. Sensitivity entails response to 

influences, changes in other people’s feelings, the environment, or events. This quality is the 

equivalent of being down-to-earth, perceptive, simple or humble. A flexible person adapts to 

changes, and makes modifications to suit certain circumstances. Productivity deals with industry, 

achievement of favourable and useful results, continuous activity and abundance.  

Productivity sets innovation in motion, amounting to physical results, products, etc. 

Innovation, which is the end-product of the quadrat, is the actual implementation of ideas that 



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result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services, 

as a consequence of applying the activities in the chart. 

 

Applying the Quadrat in some Sectors of Nigeria for Development 

We agreed that creativity gives birth to innovation. To achieve sustainable development 

in some sectors of Nigeria such as politics, economy, and health, the creativity quadrat must be 

applied in incremental order. That is to say that policies must be made differently, bearing in 

mind that the developmental process would be achieved by such moves. 

 In politics, government and leadership, policymakers must deem it pertinent to enact 

policies that will affect the people positively, starting from agenda setting and policy formation, 

and actual policy implementation. A sensitive government must as a matter of urgency, rid itself 

of corruption to enable it to bring sanity. Aside from corruption, other banes of political 

development are sectionalism, nepotism, or ethnicity. In the United States of America, the 

“America First” policy stance is non-sectionalist and has been driving the county forward long 

after the American Civil War, which is based on meritocracy and not ethnicity. “Nigeria First” 

can kill sectionalism and hoist meritocracy in policy-making, and decision-making. Such policies 

have been attempted in the past, such as the late Prof Dora Akunyili’s “Good People, great 

Nation”. Unfortunately, it only succeeded in the media, not indeed. 

For the Police, considering the risky nature of their job, the government should apply 

flexibility in making policies that affect policing, such as adequate remuneration and constant 

reward and promotions for good jobs. On this, Ikezue and Oli (2020: 61) aver that The values of 

honesty and hard work should be encouraged and rewarded. It will motivate the officers to 

heighten their zeal for good work. The police personnel and other members of the sister agencies 

like the Army, Civil Defense, and Customs, among others, must, as a matter of urgency, be 

indoctrinated to see themselves as ‘guardian angels’ who must protect the interest of the Law and 

order in Nigeria. Again, corrupt officers must be sincerely made to face the wrath of the law, and 

to set a good example for others.  Questionable sources of income, and propensity for the crude 

acquisition of wealth should be frowned upon and condemned. Finally, erring police personnel 

should be punished swiftly, severely and publicly. This is because justice delayed is justice 

denied. 

In the Economy, the government and private sectors need to be flexible in supporting 

both corporate organisations, Small and Medium scale Enterprises, such as local manufacturing. 

These SMEs have the potential of driving the economy. It is rigid for a nation to have a single-

product economy in terms of exports. The case goes to Nigeria because oil accounts for up to 90 

per cent of her export earnings, and even new investments related to oil. Worse of it all is that 

Nigeria is an import-oriented economy, thus, virtually every commodity is imported, including 

agro products such as rice, fruits, and even toothpick! Consequently, this brings about high 

import duty fees, an increased unemployment rate in the system, and again, Nigeria will be at 

risk of a trade deficit.  

 

As a matter of urgency, the Nigerian Government must bring an end to Monopoly 

capitalism in the country. Such a market does not encourage competition between companies and 

markets. Dangote Industries has enjoyed the monopoly of manufacturing commodities such as 



Contemporary issues in the Visual Arts in Nigeria 

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sugar, spaghetti, salt, and cement in Nigeria. In December 2021, Cement spiked to a whooping 

sum of N4,500, and even the quality of the products were not certainly the best. This is because 

the Nigerian Government gave certificates to Dangote and very few others to manufacture and 

import cement. Before the discovery of oil, Nigeria as a decentralized state depended on 

Agriculture for the sustenance of the economy. Groundnut Pyramids were monumental structures 

made from sacks of groundnuts, stacked in cities such as Kano. It became one of the prominent 

exports in Nigeria, alongside cocoa from the west, palm oil from the east, and others. Such 

efforts died down with the discovery of oil between the 1960s and 1970s. Such efforts should be 

revamped and sustained because it will increase productivity. 

 

Conclusions 

This research focused on the application of creativity for the development of some 

sectors of Nigeria such as the government, the economy, the police and the parastatals. We 

identified corruption as the major problem of the Nigerian state because it brought in its train, 

another myriad of problems such as sectionalism, ethnicity, gagging of the judiciary, and poor 

police service. We fashioned the creativity quadrat that comprises creativity, originality, 

sensitivity, flexibility, productivity, and innovation. Looking at the chart, if individuals and 

groups concerned are decisive to adopt the features of the quadrat in policy making, and 

implementation, it will bring about development over time. There are benefits associated with 

this dispensation that are rooted in creativity, and innovation. Therefore, there are far-reaching 

benefits for any developing nation that makes creativity and innovation the centre of its 

philosophical ideology. Methodologies that aid exploration and discovery of potentials, a 

problem-solving ability which allows the learner the opportunity for creativity should be the 

focus of any developing nation such as Nigeria. There is an ardent need for a paradigm shift from 

theoretical, and paper certification, to a more practical application of knowledge necessary for 

future employment, and skill development in the art and design for self-employment is very 

necessary for African development.   

Finally, a sincere application of the creativity quadrat by the Nigerian State, which boils 

down to innovation, will help to fast-track development in sectors such as policy-making, police, 

health and education sector.  

 

 

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