Senior Special Adviser to the African Development Bank (AfDB) President on Industrialisation, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, has lamented ‘Nigeria’s regression’, urging national leaders to revive broken institutions, collapsed industries, and depleted knowledge systems.
Delivering a keynote address at the 55th Anniversary of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (UNIFE), Oyeyinka lamented that Nigeria’s GDP per capita was six times that of China in 1980, pointing out that today, China’s exports alone surpass the GDP of the entire African continent.
He described Nigeria’s situation as “institutional betrayals” and a chronic failure to industrialise, citing the abandonment of over 11,000 government projects by successive administrations in Nigeria, including the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, despite $5 billion in investment.
The AfDB adviser also decried the collapse of Nigeria’s knowledge systems, citing the degradation of universities and research institutions, and the mass exodus of talents.
According to him, thousands of engineers trained at public expense are now serving foreign economies, while Nigeria’s industries remain rudderless.
To address the problem, he recommended a four-point national strategy, including factory-level investments, export-oriented industrialisation, knowledge and innovation infrastructure, and university and research renewal to revitalise Nigeria’s economy.
He also called for transformational leadership committed to national purpose over personal enrichment.
“Our problem is not talent or resources, it is visionless leadership”, he opined. The event was attended by academics, alumni, and industry leaders.
