Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, a financial expert and Special Advisor to the President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, has explained why Nigeria has continued to struggle with industrialisation.
Prof Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said the lack of diversification and overreliance on oil are reasons Nigeria’s industrialisation effort has remained unsuccessful.
He made this known in a lecture delivered at the School of Economics and Political Science on Wednesday.
In his paper presentation, “Divergent Outcomes: Asia and Africa Development Strategy,” Oyelaran-Oyeyinka examined how four countries, namely, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh, were able to transform key sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, and textiles, into competitive, export-oriented industries.
According to him, in contrast, despite possessing similar resources and initial conditions with four Asian countries, Nigeria’s economy has faced stagnation, largely due to its overreliance on oil exports and a lack of diversification.
Professor Oyelaran-Oyeyinka outlined three major causes for Nigeria’s underperformance: the failure to transition from resource dependence to diversified industrial production, resource dependence resulting in shocks from volatility of oil-based revenues, and persistent gaps in political leadership and institutional capacity.
In his analysis, he argued that industrialisation does not occur by accident, noting that it requires deliberate action, visionary leadership, and sustained investment in education, technology, and long-term policy planning.
“Countries that made early investments in these areas were able to build competitive economies that navigated external shocks and maintained steady growth.
”Nigeria, however, has struggled due to its continued dependence on commodity exports and the importation of finished goods, which has hindered the development of a robust industrial base,” he stated in his presentation, which is part of his book, “Reversal of Fortune to Economic Resurgence: Industrialisation and Leadership in Asian Prosperity and Nigeria’s Regres”s, co-authored with Dr. Oyebanke Abejirin.
