From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Special Advisor to African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, has attributed Nigeria’s economic distress and lack of industrialisation to its heavy dependence on crude oil.
Delivering a lecture titled “Divergent Outcomes: Asia and Africa Development Strategy” at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on May 14, 2025, Oyelaran-Oyeyinka compared Nigeria’s stagnation to the success of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh, which transformed agriculture, manufacturing, and textiles into export-driven industries.
He identified three key reasons for Nigeria’s underperformance: failure to shift from resource dependence to diversified industrial production, economic shocks from volatile oil revenues, and weak political leadership and institutional capacity.
“Industrialisation does not occur by accident,” he said, emphasising the need for deliberate action, visionary leadership, and sustained investment in education, technology, and long-term policy planning. Nigeria’s reliance on commodity exports and imported goods has stifled its industrial base, he added.
The lecture draws from his book, *Reversal of Fortune to Economic Resurgence: Industrialisation and Leadership in Asian Prosperity and Nigeria’s Regress*, co-authored with Dr Oyebanke Abejirin.
Leave a comment