COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND NIGERIA’S POLITICS OF ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic obviously took the world by surprise, but it particularly had a devastating effect on Nigeria’s economy given its impact on international trade and the crash in oil prices, upon which the country’s economy depended. Nigeria’s government as a result, introduced some panic measures essentially to cope with the problem. It for instance, withdrew and re-packaged its 2020 National Budget and embarked on massive external borrowing to fund its activities. But the pandemic has once more brought to the fore the country’s lingering politics of economic diversification. Using the Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis and the Mun and Davenant Ideologies, the paper argues in favour of economic diversification, which will engender sustainable development. It however analyses why economic diversification has been reduced to mere political propaganda by successive Nigeria’s leaders, thus revealing the overbearing influence of socio-political factors on economic management. The paper concludes that Nigeria must have to tackle its nation-building challenges to be able to diversify its economy and grow sustainably.