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Abstract

For many years, the Nigerian economy has been precariously reliant on crude oil, a single, volatile commodity, for its sustenance. As a result, its growth trajectory has been uneven and influenced by fluctuations in oil prices. It is concerning that Nigeria has neglected the development of its non-oil sector over the years and has become increasingly dependent on the oil industry to raise money. This paper examines the impact of the non-oil sector on the long-term growth and development of the Nigerian economy using a time series dataset from 1980 to 2016 obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin and using the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation technique in a linear regression model. The findings indicate that Nigeria's non-oil sector's contribution to the country's sustainable growth is subpar. Policymakers cannot ignore the need to carefully develop the non-oil sector to diversify the Nigerian economy, given the cyclical nature of global oil prices and economic growth, to achieve sustainable growth and development, it is necessary to move past over-reliance on the oil sector and implement diversification strategies, such as developing the non-oil sector. This paper discusses this need. For Nigeria to successfully achieve diversification, the government must implement laws and business initiatives to boost private sector investment, concentrate on the industrialization of the non-oil sector, and support innovations and improvements in public financial management systems and processes through fiscal transparency and accountability.
Keywords: Diversification, Growth, Panacea, Economy, Development.