Working Paper 162 - Planning to Fail or Failing to Plan: Institutional Response to Nigeria’s Development Question

Despite recent interest in the interplay between institutions and growth, country studies in developing countries particularly relating to planning has not been given considerable attention. This forms the main motivation for this study, which evaluates the economic planning in Nigeria and discusses how institutions play influential roles on the kind of economic outcomes emanating from planning. It draws comparative evidences from Botswana and South Korea based on the fact that Nigeria had similar planning trajectory with them as they all had regular fixed-term development plans in the 1960s and 1970s. Nigeria had her five-year development plans the same time with South Korea starting with the 1st phase (1962-1966). Whereas South Korea’s five-year plans continued that of Nigeria was truncated in 1985 with the advent of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). Institutions in Botswana and South Korea have also been noted as key for their economic development. The study underscores the need for Nigeria to pursue the improvement her institutions that will provide supportive role to planning as any planning void of adequate institutional ‘pillars’ will not deliver the expected development outcomes irrespective of the coverage and how well nuanced. Thus, it is not that Nigeria planned to fail nor failed to plan but the critical factor associated with the planning models is weak institutions, among others.