Nigeria: How Nigeria Inherited an Extractive Economy and Continues to Fight for Economic Freedom
Nigeria's current economic struggles did not begin at independence. The structures that shaped how wealth is extracted, where it flows, and who benefits were largely built by British colonial administrators long before the green-white-green flag was raised in 1960.
Pan-African scholars, politicians, and human rights advocates are making this argument with growing urgency. They say Nigeria's present development challenges cannot be fully understood without going back to the economic blueprints laid under British rule, blueprints designed to move resources out of the country rather than build anything lasting within it.
The conversation around colonial economic legacy is no longer confined to academic circles. It is showing up in policy debates, protest movements, and public discourse, as more Nigerians connect the dots between historical extraction and contemporary inequality.
The push for economic justice is real, and it is getting louder. The question now is whether the political will exists to redesign systems that have survived, largely intact, for over six decades.
Originally published by AllAfrica.