BOOK : Rich Country, Poor People. . . Focusing On Existing Contradictions of A Nation. . .Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka

By Mike Aladenika.

Nigeria, the supposed giant of Africa, Richly blessed in human and mineral resources capable of growing a nation into global relevance but currently in shambles. This bundle of contradictions informed the ever consistent research works and disposition of an erudite scholar Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka in his latest work, Rich Country, Poor People.

This book advocates a return to the path of sustainable development that puts people at the heart of growth with development desired to reverse

Nigeria’s Story of Inequality and Poverty Amid Plenty to a Story of Shared Prosperity.

According to the author, Nigeria is a country marked by extreme social and economic paradoxes. It is rich in material wealth but large swathes of its people are poor!  Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown remarkably but its citizens suffer poor quality of life. It is a major producer of crude oil, with huge reserves of mineral and agricultural resources, the base for industry, but Nigeria’s manufacturing sector contributes little to its wealth.

 "Nigeria is rich in human capital but it has little endogenous technological capacity. This country should boast very high living standards but  its infrastructure is poorly developed and inequality is proportionally high. It has huge potential to absorb large skilled and knowledgeable workforce but unemployment among the youth is unacceptably high. The promise at independence was that of prosperity but it has long been replaced with befuddling despair that characterises fragile states.

This book argues that the oil-dependent economy feeds perverse extractive institutions and breeds the Spoil System whereby resources are plundered by active partisans and political appointees. Oil-dependence fosters “enclave” economic activities which limits employment and stunts manufacturing. It thrives on rent seeking due to weak institutions and a perverse political system that undermines the development ideal.

The author of Rich Country, Poor People, Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, a development Economist and currently the Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation to the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), a retired  Senior Director with the United Nations, HABITAT headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.with quality experience in the Steel and Oil industry has an irrevocable conviction of Nigeria leveraging on technology to grow the nation's industrial sector with a view to making Nigeria a production hub with eye on international markets that shoot up our ability to earn more foreign currency, create employment and improve the living standard of Nigerians.

Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka,  a former professor at the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, the first professor of Innovation and Industrialisation Policy in Nigeria, a professorial fellow with the United Nations-MERIT, and a professor of Innovation and Development at the Open University, UK.as well as a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering with several books to his credit including his most recent book, Industrialization and Economic Diversification: Post Crisis Agenda in Asia and Africa (2022, Routledge, UK), and Latecomer Development (Routledge, UK) amongst others is committed to a better Nigeria where everyone actualises his potentialities 

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