The Emergence of Manufacturing Industry in Nigeria (1955-1978)

Abstract

In this study, the origins and development of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria is surveyed. The article has demonstrated that international capital initiated, and subsequently sustained the drive towards industrialisation in Nigeria. The state and local capital have also played an increasingly important role in the process. This study is also concerned with an analysis of relative share of the manufacturing sector in GDP in the Nigerian manufacturing sector. Its purpose is to clarify the underlying forces behind Nigerian industrialisation, the percentage distribution of some key industries of performance of the manufacturing sector among its sectors. This article further discussed the emergence of Nigerian industrialisation process. It shows that the manufacturing industry effectively started from about 1955, with multinational firms, formerly engaged in wholesale and retail trade, moving into manufacturing. The structure of the manufacturing industry thereafter showed the predominance of light consumer goods production. The capital goods sector, though quite small, expanded somewhat. The primary driving force for Nigerian industrialisation was international capital. The purpose for investment in the Nigerian manufacturing industry by international capital was to utilise the country’s human and material resources to produce for profit. This was especially important because of the decline in the rate of profitability, a rise in wage rates, and the increasing excess liquidity in the developed capitalist countries. Another reason for investments was market protection. The main force behind the Nigerian industrialisation drive was the government and the demands of indigenous Nigerian businessmen as well as international capital that provided the motive force. The various strands of these arguments have been studied, using data on the historical evolution of Nigerian industrial development so as to pinpoint its source. The overall importance of this issue would be to impute the motives, and, subsequently, to explain the structure of Nigerian industrialisation and the consequences of this structure on the development of the Nigerian economy. The manufacturing sector is the driving strength behind socio-economic development of all societies the world over.