INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OF NIGERIA: INVESTMENT PATTERN

Abstract

Industrialisation is the only means to sustainable national prosperity in the world of today. This is because it creates employment, produces goods that replace imports and creates products that are exported to earn foreign exchange. Nigeria's estwhile colonised colleagues have become far more prosperous because they saved and invested in industry while through infrastructural, fiscal and monetary incentives attracting foreigners to invest in their countries.

Nigeria failed to prosper industrially like its counterparts because of inharent weakness in its political system, low saving propensity of its people and poor work attitude of its labour force. Particularly, almost all the income it earned from its natural endowment of crude oil had been consumed on the importation and provision of social goods, while no serious efforts were made at developing, manufacturing and exporting goods for hard currencies. This was noted to be becaused of low entrepreneural training and low work experience of the Nigerian engineers.

It is, therefore, recommended that Nigeria orders its priorities aright, invest substantial part of its crude-oil-earned foreign exchange loans and aids. Finally, Nigeria should emphasise better practical and entrepreneurship training of its engineers through "Entrepreneurship Engineering" programme that enables the engineer employ himself and create jobs and exports soon after graduation