In our last post, we took a look at how national development is dependent on the level of advancement of the educational sector. We also took a review at the trail of Nigerian educational system from the pre-amalgamation/pre-independence era to the post-independence era. Here, we will look at the economy of Nigeria before and after independence.

Nigerian Economy - An Overview

Prior to the independence of Nigeria (even though policies were run by non-indigenes) Nigeria had powerful economic status. Here are the reasons for this: Nigeria had an estimated arable and agricultural land of over 74 million hectares which made nigeria among the top agricultural nations of Africa. Talk about population; Nigeria is also the most populous Africa nation with a population of about 180 million people (according to the 2006 National population census).

Asides these, the deposits of mineral resources also gave boost to the economy because of the attraction of foreign investors. As a matter of fact, on the average, almost every state in Nigeria has a recognized mineral resource. For example; Enugu state has an abundance of coal. Plateau state is known for tin ore. The South-western region has abundance of alluvial gold. South-south and Niger Delta regions have huge crude oil deposit which has place Nigeria among the top oil producing nations in the world. Also, copper, iron ore, limestone, diatomite, kaolin and a host of other resources are found in abundance in various parts of Nigeria.

However, prior to the independence of Nigeria, the major GDP (Gross Domestic Product) came from agricultural products and an estimated 75% of the indigene were directly or indirectly into agricultural engagement. Nigeria also had an abundance of forest and plantations that produced cash crops. Agricultural production in the pre-independence era was grouped into two broad categories: crop productions and live stock production. The major crops produced in large quantity include: cotton, rice, cashew, cocoa, groundnut etc.

After independence, other sectors experienced more development. Sectors like mining, transportation, quarrying, manufacturing, trade/commerce etc had a major boost. Shortly after independence, Nigeria experienced the civil war which hampered the economy for a few years but later picked up after the civil war. However, the rate at which the economy is growing has dwindled over the last few decades.

From the year 1980 till this present time, there has been a massive drop in the GDP per capita, which is complemented by a high inflation rate and loss of jobs (because productivity has declined massively). Okay Nigeria may blame that on the political leaders, administrators, and on corruption. How humorous, the giant of Africa, the top producers of crude oil, the country with the richest man in Africa (Aliko Dangote) and the richest black woman in the world (Folorunsho Alakija), but with a very dwindling economy. Now let's look at a very crucial question.

Is Nigeria Self-reliant?

This is the very bane that has hampered the economy of Nigeria. As a nation, Nigeria is largely dependent on goods and services sourced from other countries but they have the available resource and manpower to have their own indigenous production. Okay how will you explain the irony of producing and exporting crude oil but importing refined fuel? For a nation to be considered as self-reliant, it must meet these criteria:

• Reduction in reliance on goods sourced from other countries
• Leveraging on in-sourced materials and indigenous production companies for the supply of their goods.
• Usage of trade policies to check importation.

Even though the above criteria may be difficult to fully attain but, to an extent, it should point a nation towards the right direction in the quest to become self-reliant. At this stage, the first and second criteria listed above is grossly lacking in Nigeria and this has affected the economy negatively. Among the problems facing Nigeria economy include: very slow industrial growth which has led to high unemployment rate, high debt rate, etc.

In view of this, many solutions were proposed as panacea to solve the economic problems in Nigeria. In agricultural sector, for example, some policies were established, like the OFN (Operation Feed the Nation) - this policy was established by the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976 with the aim of raising funds to achieve sufficiency of food supply in Nigeria. Another related policy was the one launched by Shehu Shagari, called Green Revolution. All these were attempts to boost the economy through agriculture.

Asides the agricultural sector, many other sectors were revamped to facilitate and increase the GDP, reduce national dept, and improve the overall standard of living. In this era, even though I can say that Nigeria is not yet self-reliant, but there is an abundance of resources to make them self-reliant.

References: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5