Political Earnings, Capital Flight and the Imperative of Economic Development in Nigeria: An Overview of the Fourth Republic

Politicking ranks the most lucrative preoccupation in sub-Sahara Africa generally, and Nigeria specifically. This logically derives from the central role of the state in socioeconomic processes. The public sector, by its size and share of the communal wealth, remains the most potent means of empowering nations for development. Reviewing 12 years of democratic rule in Nigeria, this paper examines the relationship between political earnings, capital flights and economic development with disappointing findings that the economic mix of political earnings constitutes a cog rather than being a catalyst of development in Nigeria. Identifying constitutional, societal and other systemic disincentives as major inhibitive factors, the paper advance measures by which local reinvestment of political earnings could be encouraged to contribute to current efforts at accelerated national development.