Japan’s development experience: What lessons does it hold for Nigeria?

Abstract

Despite the learning opportunities inherent in Nigeria’s history and the country’s access to mainstream and alternative development paradigms through decades of development cooperation, its successive post-independence leaders have failed to leverage these opportunities to build a strong, cohesive and prosperous nation. This paper uses comparative desk research to explore key initiatives taken by Japan in its quest for development and, provides some explanations why the replication of similar transformative initiatives in Nigeria remains elusive. Specifically, the study contends that the extractive political and economic institutions foisted on the country by its post-independence leaders, colonial legacy and political instability, mono-economy, policy inconsistency, widespread corruption, among other factors, account for its inability to learn from the development milestones of Japan and indeed other developed nations. The paper concludes that while the lessons offered in Japan’s development pathways remain useful to Nigeria, the ‘critical historical junctures’ and global architecture navigated by the former for its development have changed. Hence, Nigerian leaders must negotiate the country’s development within the currents of contemporary realities, eschewing those conducts that undermine inclusive prosperity. The study contributes to the broader discourses on development assistance, knowledge transfers and socio-political impediments to the transformative use of knowledge in receiving countries.

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