A professor of Comparative Political Economy at the University of Lagos, Adelaja Odukoya, has criticized Nigeria's economic policies for promoting investment without sufficiently strengthening domestic production capacity. He argued that this approach has weakened the country's productive foundations, hindering sustainable development. Odukoya made these remarks at the maiden edition of the Adeleke University Toyin Falola Annual Lecture, held on Thursday at the Performing Arts Theatre, Adeleke University, Ede.
Odukoya identified several contradictions in the way the Nigerian state manages economic activity. He noted that the state encourages investment and entrepreneurship but fails to create the necessary technological capacity, productive employment, and processing industries to drive growth. This, he argued, explains why increased economic activity and accumulation do not necessarily translate into development. Odukoya emphasized that genuine development should be measured by the expansion of productive, technological, institutional, and human capabilities.
According to Odukoya, Nigeria's economic policies promote investment without creating conditions for technological transfer. The country encourages entrepreneurship without generating sufficient productive employment, expands primary-product exports while leaving processing capacity undeveloped, and constructs infrastructure without establishing strong linkages with domestic production. These contradictions, he argued, hinder the country's ability to build domestic industries and technological capabilities required for long-term development.
Prof Toyin Falola, who also spoke at the lecture, echoed Odukoya's sentiments. He stated that Africa's vast natural resources would continue to reinforce dependency unless governments developed the industrial, technological, and institutional capacity to transform them into productive power. Falola emphasized that Africa's resource problem was not simply one of historical exploitation but also the continent's failure to convert its resource endowments into power.
Falola stressed that resource ownership without the capacity to add value would not guarantee influence. He argued that Africa required a combination of knowledge, government policy, and industrial capacity to change its economic position. This, he believed, could be achieved through universities that generate new knowledge, governments that translate this knowledge into policies, and industries that add value to the continent's natural resources.
The lecture, themed "History, Power and Accumulation: Reimagining Africa in the Globally Disorderly Order," highlighted the need for Africa to rethink its economic strategies. Falola emphasized that the continent could not afford to remain a spectator as global economic and geopolitical arrangements continued to change. He believed that Africa needed more than improved infrastructure and stronger economies if it wanted to exercise greater influence in the global system.
The discussion underscored the need for Nigeria and other African countries to reassess their economic policies and prioritize domestic production capacity. By doing so, they can build the necessary technological, institutional, and human capabilities to drive sustainable development and transform their natural resources into productive power. This, in turn, can help the continent exercise greater influence in the global system and achieve long-term development.
Key points
- Nigeria's economic policies prioritize investment over domestic production capacity.
- The country's approach has weakened its productive foundations, hindering sustainable development.
- Africa needs to develop its industrial, technological, and institutional capacity to transform its natural resources into productive power.
