The Indonesia Economic Transformation: Lessons for Nigeria

Abstract

Drawing lessons from the past is one of the core values of historical inquiry. This paper tows this line by engaging an historical evaluation of Asian Indonesia with particular attention to its economic transformation process in a bid to address the lingering challenge of economic underdevelopment in Nigeria. While Nigeria’s economy appears blossoming econometrically particularly to the outside world, its actual state of development can be modestly defined by the domestic conditions and economic realities within her borders. However, popular justifications for this condition of economic backwardness in received literature have been anchored on her colonial history, socio-political diversity and increasing massive population. Even though such narrative context may appear correct, this current research beams its light of inquiry to a clime that is ‘un-African’ and submits that Nigeria’s historical and socio-cultural experience is common. Hence, this study, through secondary sources of history and the comparative approach in historical scholarship, identifies the commonality of Indonesia’s historical experience within the context of its contemporary economic transformation since 1945 to derive realistic clues toward Nigeria’s economic development.