DEPENDENCY AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA: CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The crises of underdevelopment in the third world have been a subject of discourse amongst social scientists, national governments and international development organization for several decades. Largely countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are wallowing in mass poverty and socio-economic underdevelopment. According to Abraham (2010), third world countries are economically poor and technologically backward and largely characterized by under-developed structures, high maternal mortality, high child mortality, lower mass literacy, large rural population and so on. The situation in Nigeria is no different; with a population of over 170 million people, the United Nations Development Programme most recent Human Development Index Report ranked Nigeria 152 out of 187 countries with a HDI value of 0.514 (UNDP 2015). This shows that the country is struggling with low human development with a huge disparity between economic growth and social welfare. The report in its list of low human development countries also ranked Nigeria at number 9 among 42 countries with Nepal, Pakistan and Kenya coming as the first three and Central African Republic, Congo, and Niger as the last three. The prevailing underdevelopment in the third world generally and Nigeria specifically, have been historically linked to inherent colonially imposed dependent economic structure within the third world states. This entails the historical fusion of the third world economy to the global capitalist economy and the subsequent dependence on the Western economies (Stokes & Anderson, 1990; Ake, 2002). Associated with dependency is structural disarticulation which further impedes socio-economic development in the third world. In establishing this fact, Haung (1995) averred that one contributing factor to third world underdevelopment is that of structural disarticulation: which is an economic and social feature manifested by uneven sectorial development and lack of correspondence between domestic production and consumption patterns. In view of these arguments, this paper hence was initiated to contribute to the theoretical and empirical literature of development crises in Nigeria arising from dependency and the inherent structural disarticulation as seen in the production and consumption incoherence measured by recent trends in Nigeria’s foreign trade (import and export) patterns.

1. 1. STATEMENT OF THE GENERAL PROBLEM

Over dependency and  poor development of African continent in general and Nigeria in particular has been a cause for a major concern as a lot has been lost by the continent and development has regrettably eluded the continent. in Nigeria, cases of over dependency that has been evident in the oil sector and other crucial sectors of the economy has plunged the country into the current economic recession that is underway which has resulted to increase in poverty and hunger in the land.

1. 1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the effect of dependency and underdevelopment in Africa with a particular reference to Nigeria. Other specific objectives of the study are to;

1. To examine the level of dependency and underdevelopment in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
2. To examine the relationship between dependency and under development in Nigeria.
3. To examine the effect of under development on the economy of Nigeria.
4. To recommend ways of reducing over dependency in Nigeria.
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the level of dependency and underdevelopment in Africa and Nigeria in particular?
2. What is the relationship between dependency and under development in Nigeria?
3. What is the effect of under development on the economy of Nigeria?
4. What are the ways of reducing over dependency in Nigeria.
   1. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: There is no significant relationship between dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria

H1: There is a significant relationship between dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria

1. 1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study would be of immense importance towards the development of Africa and Nigeria in particular as it would recommend ways of improving development in the country in particular. The study would also be of immense importance to students, researchers and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

1. 1. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to dependency and underdevelopment in Africa using Nigeria as the case study.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.