WASHINGTON CONSENSUS AND AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT CONUNDRUM

NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE, 2012-2016

Abstract

The western world has unilaterally dictated the socio-economic development ideologies for the third world countries. This process stemmed from mercantilism through liberalism to neo-liberalism or better still globalization, which is an outcome of Washington Consensus. The evolutional trend of the ideologies was being propelled by environmental consideration of the globalist vendors, while the third world countries in general and Nigeria in particular copy the western developmental steps without her (Nigerian) environmental consideration. This bandwagon effect has been a problem to the developmental pills administered to the Nigerian economy. Therefore, this study interrogated the nexus between the Washington Consensus and economic development in Nigeria between 2012 and 2016. Our data were generated from secondary sources through documentary method of data collection. Content analysis was used for the analysis of collected data. Theoretically, we adopted political economy theory as framework that guided the study. The theory maintained among others that economic condition goes a long way in defining individual/state actions and behaviour. However, the study found among others that the Washington Consensus was a ploy to subject the third world countries to the developed nations. Therefore, we suggest that Africa in general and Nigeria in particular should tactically devise an environmental friendly and autochthonous path to development without delinking from the global fold which may derail the idea of complex interdependency in the global economy.