Nigeria-Japan Trade Relations, 1914-1954

Abstract

To the Third World countries, Japan is a model in many respects. For one thing, Japan is a latecomer as an industrialized nation when compared with European or even North American countries. For another, it is a country that nature did not endow with raw materials for the purpose of industrialization and economic development. Yet, it has become a giant, indeed, a superpower economically. Many Third World countries, therefore, naturally feel that if Japan made it they too need not be hopeless. Surely, more industrialized countries are springing up. Among the new ones are South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, all in Asia. It is shown that although the Third World countries are lumped together, they are in different stages of economic development. While countries such as China and India are on the higher stage of industrialization, many African countries such as Nigeria are at the very low ebb. If these countries are prepared to learn from the lessons of history, they must learn the Japanese history. The attempt in this paper is not to delve into the economic history of Japan or Nigeria, but to analyze how and when Japan started trading with countries as remote from it as Nigeria.