Post Independence Nigeria and Industrialisation Strategies: Four and Half Erratic Decades

The quest for Nigeria to be an industrialized economy with high sustainable growth rates has been the preoccupation of every administration that has piloted the affairs of the nation since after independence. But amidst of these struggles for sustainable growth the Nigerian economy has performed poorly since the late 1970s, resulting in stagnation and increasing poverty levels. Industrialisation was seen as the only feasible means to get to the Promised Land by breaking the shackles of poverty because of the expected spill over effect in every other aspect of the economy. Despite all efforts, since October 1960, the level of industrialization remains very low even with the oil boom that comes intermittently. Thus all three factors (time preference, portfolio choice, and expectations) interacted to produce an economically irrational reaction to the oil-boom in Nigeria. The structural adjustment (SAP) era was seen as a perfect time to consolidate the industrial aspirations but the Nigerian experience with SAP policies in the area of trade and industrial policies illustrates the interplay of several factors in the determination of policy design and implementation. In one sense, there is the loss of policy autonomy since the IMF and donors could almost retain a veto power on policy choices. In practice, Nigerian policy-makers have had tremendous room to manoeuvre. The situation have been off and on till the 4th republic (1999-2007) yet Nigeria's manufacturing sub sector contribution to GDP instead of growing dropped to less than 3 percent in 2006. The paper reviewed all the policies and incentives and proffer guidelines for the way forward.