, nigeria ’ s vision 2010 was aimed at “ transforming the country and focusing it firmly on the path to becoming a developed nation by the year 2010 ”. according to the document, the private sector was expected to be very active, within a market - oriented, highly competitive, broad - based, private sector - driven development process. in addition, the return of democratic governance in the country in 1999, brought along with it the introduction of a series of reforms, aimed at redressing the distortions in the economy and restoring economic growth. the national economic empowerment and development strategy ( needs ) of 2004 was a home - grown poverty reduction, value - reorientation and socioeconomic development strategy for the country. 6. let me reiterate the fact that all plans, programmes and visions enumerated above, were to guarantee nigeria ’ s economic development by altering the model of economic structure of production and consumption pattern, reduce dependence on oil, diversify the economic base, generate employment, create a globally competitive and stable economy. looking back, it is clear that the economy has not actually performed to its fullest potential, particularly in the face of its rising population. the nigerian economy has grossly underperformed relative to her enormous resource endowment and the achievements of her peers / other developing nations with similar characteristics. this is, particularly so, because agriculture has remained largely peasant, while the high contributions of the tertiary sector to output suggest that the sector is not really servicing the nigerian economy but, indeed, other economies. little wonder then that the diversification index remains below 0. 4 per cent over the years in spite of the numerous reforms that have been put in place. comparison with countries with almost equal economic standing at nigeria ’ s independence 7. nigeria ’ s economic performance has been rather weak and does not reflect its level of resource endowments, especially when juxtaposed with the experiences of some emerging asian economies that faced similar challenges and choices about five decades ago. a number of east asian countries, notably, china, indonesia, malaysia and singapore were far behind nigeria in terms of gdp per capita in the 1970s. today, these countries have transformed their economies and are not only miles ahead of nigeria, but are also major players on the global economic arena. in 1970, while nigeria had a gdp per capita of us $ 233. 35 and was ranked 88th in the world, china was ranked 114th with a gdp per capita of us $ 111. 82. however, with the visionary

, particularly focusing on technology - driven industrialization to support exports. the political stability should encompass adequate security to foster the requisite environment under which business and commercial activities can thrive. 16. another important lesson from the asian tigers is the systematic and coordinated policy intervention by the government to steer the economy to the right path. worthy of mention is the areas of industrial policies directed at developing strategic sectors of their economies as well as the cooperation between the private sector and the government. government policies were primarily geared to ensuring private sector competition between small and large companies as well as promotion of export - led growth. 17. the issue of research and development, ( r & d ) was at the front burner of the development strategies of the asian nations. these countries were able to adapt and customize the products of r & d as the bedrock of their technological advancement to support the export - led growth strategy. the adaptation of r & d was instrumental to ensuring the diversification and widening of the export base. challenges of nigeria ’ s economic development and the leadership question 18. let me state emphatically that though the nigerian economy has achieved some considerable progress, the accomplishment is far below her realizable potentials given her abundant human and material resource endowment. the country is still grappling with bis central bankers ’ speeches numerous challenges, which has continued to militate against the achievement of economic transformation. first, from the standpoint of leadership, the country is seriously beset with numerous shortcomings in the leadership arena, be it in the spheres of politics, corporate or at the community level, etc. in fact, the case of nigeria could be rightly classified as leadership decadence across all spectrum of human endeavour. the bane of leadership in our environment could conveniently be grouped into the following broad categories. • prevalence of executive / legislative / judicial lawlessness and corruption within the body polity as the personal interests of many leaders override collective goals. the frenzied quest for wealth over and above all other considerations has rendered leadership most ineffective. • abuse and manipulation of ethnic relationship by leaders in authority by way of nepotism, tribalism, favouritism and religious bigotry. • lack of leadership education and skills to discharge expected roles and perform leadership duties effectively. • inadequate motivation of subordinates and followers leading to disconnect in leadership and followership relationship. 19. second, the economy is yet to achieve the necessary structural changes required to jump - start rapid and sustainable economic growth