Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Akpan Ekpo has blamed Nigeria’s inability to achieve sustained double-digit economic growth on poor economic management, arguing that the country lacks leaders with the capacity to implement the right policies needed to transform the economy.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Ekpo called for a shift from Nigeria’s current market-driven approach, saying government must take a leading role in driving industrialisation and development before gradually allowing the private sector to take over.
“Our inability to have double-digit growth on a consistent basis is due to the lack of capacity of those who manage the Nigerian economy. The state has to be a strong state sector to drive the economy, at least for some years before you now move to the private sector.”
He said countries that had successfully transformed their economies did not rely solely on free-market principles in their early stages of development. “Look at all the developed countries. Today, all of them, without exception, passed through state-driven economies before they got to this level where they now started talking about the private sector. So why are we doing the opposite?”
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Ekpo argued that Nigeria must embrace a development philosophy suited to its realities instead of adopting economic models designed for already industrialised nations. “You cannot be at point A and somebody who is at point Z is telling you how he got there and you think that if you do exactly what he did at point Z you will get there. It doesn’t work that way.”
He maintained that industrialisation should remain at the centre of Nigeria’s economic strategy. “You cannot industrialise without a steel industry.”
According to Ekpo, revenue generated from crude oil should be strategically invested in sectors capable of driving long-term economic growth. “Any revenue we get from oil should be used in targeting certain major projects, like quality education, quality health.”
He also criticised the country’s dependence on borrowing despite rising poverty levels, saying economic policies should ultimately improve the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians rather than merely satisfy macroeconomic indicators.
“You cannot turn the corner when all what you are doing as government your citizens are getting more and more into poverty.”
Ekpo urged policymakers to prioritise building institutional capacity and adopting a coherent development strategy. “What is lacking is the capacity of those who manage the Nigerian economy. We need competent people who understand development economics and we need a development philosophy that is appropriate for our stage of development.”
“The state has to be a strong state sector to drive the economy, at least for some years before you now move to the private sector.”
