Title:
INDUSTRIALISATION: THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMER AND DIVERSIFIER OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

Authors:
Prof. W. A. S. Abomaye-Nimenibo, Nigeria

Abstract:

Since 1980s, Nigeria's industrial sector has continued has shown structural weakness and exhibit declining capacity utilization. The sector mostly has negative growth rates and contributes less to economic growth. This study therefore examined the impact of industrial policy reforms in enhancing economic transformation and diversification of the Nigerian economy. What agent other than industrialization that can easily transform and diversify the Nigeria economy? Industrialisation is an instrument of economic development by which the stride of structural transformation and diversification of any economy can be achieved.  Industrialization provides new services to individuals and businesses which brings ample opportunities to investors to explore, and uses its factors of production and the natural endowments to produce goods and services for the use of nations within and outside one's continent. These finished goods and services were taken to other countries as foreign supply to earn foreign reserve to a nation. Goods are produced to aid further production in the form of raw materials that may be exported for economic growth and development, as well as sustainability of bi-lateral benefits. Sustained industrial growth entails good policies which strengthens the industrial base and it's sector. Several industrial policies, plans and strategies needs be formulated and put to implementation. Industrialization fast-tracks the stride of structural transformation and diversification of an economy. Our objective in this study is to examine the effect of industrialisation that takes place in Nigeria for its economic growth. Industrialisation brings about economic growth measured by the GDP. GDP is used as the independent variable to measure the human capital, labour input and capital stock. The results show that human capital, labour input and capital stock bothers on industrialisation and do not contribute significantly to economic growth in terms of GDP. The study recommends that the government should develop good governance machinery to protect the rights of its citizens, improve judicial and security structures, encourage technological advancement, and invest in industrial transformation.