Ken Ife, furthermore traced Nigeria’s economic difficulties to the decline of agriculture and manufacturing, notably the failure to invest adequately in infrastructure required to fund production.
Speaking on Nigeria at 66, Ife recalled that the country was a significant exporter of agricultural commodities in the 1960s but gradually abandoned the sector following the emergence of oil as the dominant source of salary.
He said the difficulty was not just the discovery of oil but the failure to stay investing in agriculture, mechanisation, storage, transportation and other infrastructure needed to sustain production.
According to him, Nigeria furthermore failed to develop the standard infrastructure required to see changing worldwide standards, including sanitary and phytosanitary requirements and functional specifications.
Ife said the country’s manufacturing sector suffered additional setbacks following economic liberalisation, as cheap textile imports contributed to the collapse of domestic industries and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
He argued that Nigeria’s experience showed the exposure of excessive dependence on imports and called for stronger domestic successful capacity.
Nonetheless, he pointed to the banking, telecommunications and financial technology sectors as evidence that Nigerian businesses could attain remarkable growth when policies, infrastructure and investment aligned.
He noted that the liberalisation of telecommunications and the expansion of web-based financial services had transformed economic activities, although Nigeria had emerged as a large African technology and fintech hub.
For the LCCI, the following phase of reforms should hence focus on converting economic stability into extensive-based prosperity.
It urged the government to cut transportation costs throughout mass transit and cleaner vehicles, strengthen food production and distribution, moderate energy costs, defend workers’ purchasing power and protect targeted social protection.
The Chamber furthermore called for increased efficiency in government services, saying businesses should be able to acquire licences, settle taxes, import inputs, export products, availability finance and determine commercial disputes free from excessive administrative delays.
It stressed that Nigeria’s lengthy-term prosperity would depend on moving from an economy driven primarily by consumption and government expenditure to one increasingly driven by investment, production, exports and individual-sector job creation.
Leye Kupoluyi, acknowledged that original economic reforms had produced encouraging signs of macroeconomic stabilisation, including stronger Gross Domestic Goods growth, moderation in inflation, improved external reserves and greater stability in the foreign swap advertise.
It, nevertheless, warned that macroeconomic gains would have limited meaning except if they translated into improved purchasing power, reduced production costs and greater jobs.
“The 66th anniversary provides an necessary possibility to reflect on the declare of our economy and the conditions confronting businesses, households, and investors,” the Chamber said.
It noted that whereas inflation had moderated, the prices of fundamental goods and services remained high, including food, transportation, housing, healthcare, education and energy consuming a growing proportion of household incomes.
The LCCI furthermore expressed worry over rising energy and transportation costs, noting that petrol prices around N1,400 per litre in parts of the country and diesel prices above N2,000 had large implications for manufacturing, logistics, agriculture and retail prices.
It consequently called for measures to lessen the structural costs embedded in the prices of goods and services, rather than focusing solely on lowering the inflation rate.
The Chamber identified the high price of electricity, diesel, logistics, sponsor, imported raw materials, machinery, regulatory compliance and numerous taxes as significant constraints on businesses, particularly manufacturers and micro, compact and medium enterprises.
It urged the government to complement the recent reduction in the Monetary Policy Rate to 23 per cent alongside measures that would support businesses to connection reasonably priced credit.
According to the LCCI, the Nationwide Credit Guarantee Enterprise should play a stronger role in expanding availability to endorse for modest businesses and fruitful-sector enterprises.
It too called for a extensive-ranging industrial competitiveness programme based on secure energy, inexpensive prolonged-term support, predictable commerce and tariff policies, development of community furnish chains and industrial infrastructure.
The Chamber said manufacturing must become a main component of Nigeria’s job creation method.
“We refer to for to produce extra in Nigeria, take on extra Nigerians, and decrease the country’s dependence on imported goods,” it said.
Similarly, the Director Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Confidential Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said Nigeria had paid a heavy value for its dependence on oil turnover, inconsistent policies and inadequate investment in infrastructure.
In his 66th Independence policy remark titled Nigeria at 66: From Economic Stabilisation to Shared Prosperity, Yusuf said fluctuations in crude oil prices had repeatedly disrupted government budgets and foreign swap furnish.
He acknowledged the consequence of petrol subsidy removal, transfer rate reforms and sales measures under the in progress administration, saying they had addressed some lengthy-standing fiscal and foreign supplant distortions.
He noted that authentic GDP growth rose from 3.38 per cent in 2024 to 3.87 per cent in 2025 and 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, during the time that headline inflation stood at 15.39 per cent in August and the Principal Bank of Nigeria’s policy rate was reduced to 23 per cent in September.
Nonetheless, Yusuf said the gains had not translated sufficiently into relief for households and businesses.
He argued that lesser inflation did not mean bottom prices, as households were still dealing using elevated costs of food, transportation, electricity and other essentials, whereas businesses faced rising feedback, distribution and financing costs.
He called for sustained investment in power, security, ports, logistics, agricultural production, industrial competitiveness and skills development.
The Leader Economic Strategist at the ECOWAS Commission, Prof.
As Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Anniversary, economic experts and the Lagos Chamber of Manage activity and Field (LCCI) have called for a decisive advance from economic stabilisation to production, productivity and job creation to strengthen the fortunes of the country.
They said Nigeria’s economic challenges were rooted in decades of dependence on crude oil, inadequate infrastructure, inconsistent policies and underinvestment in fruitful sectors, urging governments at all levels to generate an environment that would facilitate businesses to produce competitively and employ greater Nigerians.
The LCCI, in its Independence Day statement signed by its President, Engr.
Source: Independence: How to change Nigeria’s economic fortunes
