An Evaluation of the Performance of the Nigerian Economy Under the Democratic Rule (2000 – 2009)

Abstract

With the installation of democratic governance in Nigeria since 1999, there were expectations that the Nigerian economy would change for the better. However, after 10 to 12 years of democratic experience, the Nigerian economy has not fared any better. This has been due to, among other factors, the contradictions inherent in the economic management approach and the system of governance being operated, narrow productive base of the economy, corruption, and inefficiency in public spending. For the economy to perform, it may have to adopt the following measures: maintenance of spending efficiency, improvement in the rule of law and transparency, entrenchment in government reforms, and improvement in governance capacity, promotion of human capital development, and creation of an environment for high levels of investment and growth, adoption of economic policies consistent with democratic governance. This paper has thus attempted to evaluate the performance of the Nigerian economy under the democratic rule by reviewing the performance of the economy for the period 2000 to 2009. It established that the Nigerian economy did not fare well under the democratic rule. The paper concluded that some measures must be taken to address the constraints to the performance of democratic rule in Nigeria. These include maintenance of spending efficiency, improvement in the rule of law and transparency, entrenchment of governance reform and improvement in governance capacity, creation of an environment for high levels of investment and growth, adoption of economic policies consistent with the process of democratic governance.