Nigeria’s Economy @ 65: How we missed the boat!

By Dr Dele Sobowale

“Every system tin lone beryllium arsenic beardown arsenic its manufacturing base.”

Akio Morita, Harvard Business Review, May-June 1992.

When Morita wrote that nonfiction successful the Harvard Business Review, HBR, Japan was the starring manufacturing system successful the world. American and European scholars were falling implicit themselves trying to recognize the creation and subject of Japanese management. Several lessons were learnt which, astatine the time, appeared unsocial to the Japanese.

Focus connected prime was one; just-in-time transportation of earthy materials and parts to the mill was another; system of scope replaced the century-long system of standard to marque each manufacturing portion much productive than ever before.

The nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, grew astir 8 per cent per annum for implicit a decade. Japan roseate to go the world’s second-largest economy, surpassed lone by the United States of America.

A federation with astir nary earthy resources was abruptly the world’s starring manufacturer. Japanese products from cars to cameras, tools to tv sets, took implicit markets erstwhile dominated by European and American products; Toyota yet upended General Motors arsenic the world’ s largest planetary car manufacturer. The Japanese seemed unstoppable. Futurists were engaged trying to conjecture erstwhile Japan would yet overtake America arsenic the world’s largest economy. It is rather imaginable that the Japanese themselves believed the pundits regarding their inevitable emergence to the top.

Unexpectedly, the accelerated maturation slowed down; astatine archetypal unnoticeably, but, it aboriginal gathered momentum. Today, Japan has slipped to the 3rd presumption down USA and China. Furthermore, it mightiness soon autumn down India to the 4th position. The evident question is what happened? The wide reply is: nonaccomplishment of manufacturing power. China and India person overtaken Japan successful manufacturing. Not lone that, China and India are proving that a federation without a ample colonisation and earthy resources tin lone spell truthful acold with the astir productive manpower base.

HOW THE BIG THREE DEVELOPED

The Industrial Revolution did not commencement successful the US, China oregon India. Europe was its birthplace and Europe consequently colonized the remainder of the satellite and forced america to proviso earthy materials to the factories of Europe and to judge the products manufactured there. Modern civilization followed the emergence of industries and a template for economical improvement and competitiveness was laid.

From an agrarian federation a state indispensable strive to determination into manufacturing arsenic soon arsenic possible; proviso its ain home needs first, and past task into export. Comparative vantage dictated that each federation should absorption connected those goods which successful the opening were easiest for it to nutrient successful ample quantities fixed geographical and biology advantages.

It was not astonishing that definite parts of the world, astatine first, specialized successful supplying definite commodities arsenic earthy materials for concern Europe; until they gradually started moving into manufacturing themselves. For astir of the seventeenth to fractional of the twentieth century, manufacturing was the main operator of economical maturation and development.

To a large extent, manufacturing is inactive the large catalyst of economical progress. However, since the past fractional of the past century, the work system has gradually emerged arsenic the large leader of labour successful galore countries. America, which had emerged arsenic the largest system aft World War II and the astir powerful, had gradually moved towards a service-led economy.

Either deliberately oregon inadvertently, the US had out-sourced its manufacturing to countries successful Asia – Japan, China, South Korea – successful bid to ore connected the emerging fields of net and communications. The unintended repercussion had been a displacement of economical powerfulness to South East Asia.

HOW AND WHY DID NIGERIA MISS THE BOAT?

The Nigerian system until 1973 was based connected accumulation and export of cultivation products, mining of coal, tin and crude oil. Each of the 3 archetypal regions had its ain Marketing Board, based successful London.

They engaged successful export promotions. The main export gross earners were: cocoa, thenar oil, cotto...