•From regional giants to state midgets
•How to regain ‘Paradise’, by top economists
By Nnamdi Ojiego
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria emerged from colonial rule with hope and ambition. It was a country of vast resources, youthful leaders, and a vision to rival the Asian Tigers. 65 years later, that dream has curdled into disappointment.
The nation that once stood as a continental beacon now wrestles with epileptic power supply, collapsed industries, and a political class more adept at sharing handouts than at building institutions.
At independence, Nigeria’s leaders were young, determined, and visionary. They built schools, industries, farms, and financial institutions without oil money. They thought in decades, not election cycles. Their projects reshaped society, laid the foundations of modern Nigeria, and set the country on a promising path. But six decades of corruption, waste, and short-sightedness have eroded those gains, leaving the nation adrift.
Laboratories of progress
In the years before and after independence, each region became a testing ground for bold ideas. The Western Region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo stood out as an industrial and educational powerhouse. The Eastern Region, under Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and later Dr. Michael Okpara, pursued what became known as an “economic revolution.” The Northern Region, guided by Sir Ahmadu Bello, placed agriculture and education at the center of its growth strategy.
Awolowo turned cocoa revenues into enduring infrastructure. Cocoa House in Ibadan, then the tallest building in West Africa, became a symbol of prudent management. Liberty Stadium and Western Nigeria Television, the first on the continent, showcased a spirit of innovation. Awolowo’s free primary education policy transformed literacy and opportunity, while the Western Nigeria Development Corporation created factories, banks, and insurance firms that powered job creation. These were not projects driven by foreign aid or oil revenues but by careful use of modest resources.
In the East, Okpara pursued agriculture and industry with equal vigor. Agro-industrial estates flourished in Aba, Enugu, and Port Harcourt. Nigercem at Nkalagu, Golden Guinea Breweries in Umuahia, and textile and glass factories expanded the industrial base. Palm plantations and rice schemes made the East the fastest-growing economy in Africa. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, became a cornerstone of human capital development.
The North, long neglected, found a determined modernizer in Bello. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, grew into the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Bank of the North and the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation financed textiles, factories, and hotels. Agriculture thrived, with Kano’s groundnut pyramids symbolizing prosperity and export-driven growth.
Squandered inheritance
These achievements were accomplished with fewer resources than today’s leaders command. Oil had not yet transformed the economy, yet visionary governance produced results that outlived their architects. By contrast, the discovery of oil has been more of a curse than a blessing. Then the military struck and the three regional governments under parliamentary system gave way to 12 states while the government at the federal level became very powerful and the states became its appendages.
Later the number of states became 19 and then 36 but rather than remaining giants, they became midgets. And the nation adopted presidential system of government after the military left power. Trillions of naira in revenues have since been squandered, leaving poverty, insecurity, and despair in their wake.
Factories that once employed thousands now lie in ruins. Nigercem is silent. Cocoa and palm plantations that funded schools and roads have been overtaken by weeds. The groundnut pyramids that drew traders from across the world have vanished. In place of industrial estates, leaders distribute motorcycles and pepper-grinding machines in the name of empowerment.
The problem is not incompetence alone but brazen theft. Budgetary allocations are looted with impunity. Borrowed funds vanish into private accounts. Public office has become a gateway to obscene wealth, while citizens are left in hunger and unemployment.
From builders to poor managers
Nigeria at 65 reveals a collapse in leadership standards. Awolowo, Okpara, and Bello governed entire regions with clear blueprints for growth. Today’s state governors struggle to justify their monthly allocations. The federal government cannot keep refineries running, yet billions are sunk into subsidies and repairs that yield nothing.
Universities, once the pride of the regions, are crippled by strikes. Agriculture, once export-driven, has been abandoned as banditry forces farmers off their land. Industries have given way to inflated contracts and offshore accounts. The sense of national ambition has evaporated.
Lessons at 65
Nigeria’s decline is not the product of fate but of failed leadership. Awolowo, Azikiwe, Okpara, and Bello governed with fewer resources yet built structures that endured. Their legacies show that development is possible when leaders place vision above personal gain. Industrial estates, universities, and financial institutions were their gifts to the future.
The current ruling class offers no such legacy. Instead, it presides over debt, crumbling infrastructure, and deepening inequality. Where the first generation thought in decades, today’s politicians think in election cycles. Where the pioneers built, their successors loot.
Call to conscience
The real loss is not only in abandoned factories or collapsed plantations but in the death of ambition. Once, Nigeria competed with Malaysia, India, and Indonesia. Today those countries are global powers, while Nigeria is trapped in underdevelopment. Indonesia sits in the G20; Nigeria cannot provide steady electricity.
At 65, the contrast between promise and reality could not be sharper. Nigeria’s story is one of squandered opportunities and fading legacies. Unless a new generation of leaders rediscovers the courage and foresight of the founding fathers, the gulf between Nigeria and the nations it once rivaled will only widen.
The indictment of the present ruling class is clear: They have failed to govern, failed to plan, and failed to dream. Until leaders return to the discipline, foresight, and integrity of the first generation, the promise of 1960 will remain a bitter memory.
Collectively, the defunct three regional governments recorded at least 65 legacies many of which, 65 years after Nigeria became independent from the British colonialists, are now either lost or are struggling to survive.
Industries are dead, farm settlements abandoned, schools in decay, and politics reduced to a scramble for power and spoils. What went wrong?
Western Region under Obafemi Awolowo
Awolowo’s administration was marked by a deliberate push for industrialisation, education, and modern infrastructure.
A. Education & Social Services
•First free primary education scheme in Africa.
•Expansion of rural hospitals and dispensaries.
•Cooperative development leading to the Cooperative Bank (1953) and Cooperative College.
B. Industrialisation & Finance
•Establishment of the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) in 1958.
•Creation of companies such as WAPCO Cement (Ewekoro), Nigerite Ltd, National Bank, Wema Bank, Nigerian General Insurance, Great Nigeria Insurance, Cocoa Processing Industry, Odua Textile Mills, Union Beverages, Phoenix Motors, and Nipol Plastics.
•Industrial estates in Ibadan, Ikeja, and Mushin, with over 120 factories producing textiles, aluminium, tyres, beverages, and more.
•Western House on Broad Street, Lagos, through Wemabod Estates.
C.Infrastructure & Landmarks
- Cocoa House in Ibadan, tallest building in West Africa at the time.
•Liberty Stadium, then the most modern in Africa.
•Western Nigeria Television and Broadcasting Service (WNTV/WNBS), the first radio and TV stations in Africa.
•Over 2,000 kilometres of road network across the region.
All these were achieved between 1951 and 1959, without oil revenue.
Eastern Region under Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and later Dr. Michael Okpara
The East pursued what was described as an ‘economic revolution’, with heavy emphasis on agro-industrial estates, cooperatives, and indigenous entrepreneurship.
A.Industrial Estates and Public Corporations
•The Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC), similar to WNDC, spearheaded the creation of industries and estates.
- Industrial estates were established in Trans-Amadi (Port Harcourt), Aba, and Enugu, hosting companies in textiles, glass, ceramics, and plastics.
•By 1964, the East reportedly had the highest concentration of small and medium-scale industries in Nigeria.
B.Flagship Companies/Enterprises
•Golden Guinea Breweries
in Umuahia.
•Premier Breweries in Onitsha.
•Nigerian Cement Company (NIGERCEM) at Nkalagu, one of the largest in West Africa.
•Okatana Shoe Industry at Owerri.
•Enugu Vegetable Oil Products (ENUVOP).
•Aluminium Industry at Ikot Ekpene.
•Glass Industry at Aba.
C.Agricultural Estates and Plantations
•Massive government-owned plantations in palm oil, rice, and cashew across Abak, Uzo-Uwani, and other areas.
•The East was a global exporter of palm produce before the civil war disrupted the industry.
D. Education and Health
•Expansion of secondary schools and teacher training colleges.
•Establishment of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1960, the first indigenous university in Nigeria, conceived and championed by Azikiwe.
•Regional hospitals and rural health schemes expanded.
E.Infrastructure and Commerce
•Port Harcourt was transformed into an industrial and commercial hub.
•Onitsha and Aba became the backbone of indigenous Nigerian commerce, producing the first generation of African business moguls.
By the mid-1960s, the East was one of Africa’s fastest growing regional economies.
Northern Region under Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto
The North followed a more conservative but broad-based development strategy, focusing on education, agriculture, and regional integration.
A. Education
•Before 1950, the North had fewer than 10 secondary schools. Under Bello, massive investments were made in establishing schools across the region.
• Founded Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1962), which quickly became the largest university in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Teacher training colleges and institutions like the Institute of Administration, Zaria built local manpower for governance and business.
B.Industrial and Commercial Development
•The Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC) was established, similar to WNDC and ENDC.
•It invested in banks, hotels, textiles, and agriculture.
•Kano became the textile hub of West Africa with industries like the Kano Textile Factory.
•Establishment of the Bank of the North (1961), catering to indigenous entrepreneurs.
C. Agriculture
- Expansion of groundnut pyramids in Kano and Sokoto, making Nigeria one of the world’s largest exporters.
• Cotton, hides and skins, and livestock sectors modernised under government support.
• Large irrigation and river basin projects were started to boost farming.
D. Infrastructure and Utilities
• The Kaduna Refinery precursor projects and industrial estates in Kaduna.
• Northern hotels like Hamdala Hotel in Kaduna were part of state-driven hospitality expansion.
• Regional road expansion linking remote communities to trade centres.
E.Health and Social Services
•General hospitals were expanded across major cities.
•Community development programmes promoted cooperative societies and local industries.
Regaining ‘Paradise’
The loss or stunting of these legacies is like Paradise lost. How is the Paradise regained?
Two economic thinkers, Mr Dele Oye, a former President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), and Dr. Muda Yusuf, a former Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), reflect on how the nation built its early wealth, how it lost its footing, and what must be done to recover.
Foundations of prosperity
According to Oye, Nigeria was “relatively wealthy” at independence as the economy rested on a diversified export base of cocoa, groundnuts, palm oil, rubber, cotton, tin, and coal.
He explains that smallholder farmers and traders anchored this productivity, while banks, missionary schools, and a professional civil service sustained administration and commerce.
For Yusuf, the country’s federal structure allowed each region to develop its comparative advantage. “It was the regional governments that were the power houses,” he says. “Awolowo in the West, Bello in the North, Okpara in the East. Because it wasn’t as centralized as it is now, people could manage their own resources. There was competition among the regions, and each chose its own priorities.”
The unraveling
The oil boom of the 1970s marked a turning point. Oye points out that oil dependence created “Dutch disease,” drawing attention away from agriculture and manufacturing, and making the economy vulnerable to rent-seeking. “Petroleum rents concentrated power, weakened taxation and accountability, and incentivized patronage and corruption,” he says. Military rule and fragile institutions further undermined governance, while poor investment in education and infrastructure cut productivity.
Yusuf adds that leadership failures were central. “We had problems with corruption. We didn’t develop our infrastructure well enough to enhance productivity. If you don’t have good leaders, you don’t have good infrastructure. Without infrastructure, you cannot be productive or competitive,” he observed.
While Oye frames Nigeria’s trajectory as one of squandered wealth, Yusuf cautions that not all progress has been lost. He points to gains in ICT, entertainment, media, and the financial sector.
“Our musicians are all over the world. We have close to 600 broadcast stations today, compared to only NTA and Radio Nigeria in my youth,” he said. The challenge, however, is that rapid population growth has outpaced economic expansion, deepening poverty and inequality.
Why Asia pulled ahead
Both men agree that the divergence from Asia lies in governance and policy choices.
For Oye, the lesson of the Asian Tigers and India is clear: meritocratic institutions, consistent long-term strategies, and disciplined macroeconomic management. Countries like South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia invested massively in education, built export-oriented industries, and created incentives for productivity while fighting corruption.
Yusuf echoes this, stressing that Nigeria’s missed opportunity is tied to weak leadership. “It’s essentially an issue of leadership,” he insists. “Our peers developed infrastructure and human capital while we were distracted by corruption and mismanagement.”
Way forward
Both experts outline reforms that could put Nigeria back on course.
Oye calls for a “national compact” bringing together government, business, labour, and civil society around measurable goals: macro stability, transparent fiscal governance, diversified
industrialization, and human capital development. His roadmap includes immediate fiscal discipline and digital transparency, medium-term investments in education and industrial parks, and long-term institutional reform.
Yusuf emphasizes priorities that would have the greatest social impact: infrastructure, education, job creation, and transparency. “We need to invest more in education so that we don’t have too many out-of-school children who tomorrow will become terrorists,” he warns. For him, tackling corruption and boosting productive sectors beyond services are non-negotiable.
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