From dependency to power: Why Nigeria must claim economic sovereignty now, to maintain global relevance and retain its position as the giant of Africa

    Prisca Ndu | Insights | Feb 06, 2026    
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Nigeria is too big - its large population, too young - its youthful demography, too resource-rich – blessed with abundant human and natural resources, and too well-positioned to continue having a weak economy and struggle to maintain its place as the giant of Africa, a position it is losing gradually, as most African nations no longer see Nigeria in this light. Its ongoing vulnerability is not a mystery, nor is it the result of foreign conspiracy or fate. Power is strategically crafted, planned, constructed, and protected; it does not just happen. Nigeria has suffered for decades, not from a lack of potential, but from the inability to turn that potential it has, from mere assumption, into long-term economic dominance and growth, especially in the last three decades since the advent of its democracy on May 29, 1999.

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