ABSTRACT
Ever since Nigeria's independence in 1960, Leaders, Elites and Scholars have
engaged in various debates on the notion that political independence without
economic independence would be ridiculous. Which simply put, national yearnings
and aspirations of Nigerian Leaders and Scholars have both economic and political
connotations.
There is this general consensus that where economic power is concentrated in the
hands of foreigners, the economy 1s undersiege as foreign investors drain the
resources of the nation. This could be in the forms of salaries and dividends
repatriated abroad in addition to over-exploitation of non-replaceable natural
resources and cause structural imbalance in the development of the economy as they
operate only in most profitable sectors.
Nigerian leaders equally contend that indigenous economic initiative and
entrepreneurial growth are often submerged and dwarfed through direct and indirect
activities of the foreigners.
This paper has therefore defined the term indigenization, and grappled with issues like
Imperialism, Colonialism Neo-Colonialism and the Nigerian State. It equally x-rayed
the objectives, process and implementation of indigenization policy of 1972 bringing
the various indigenization decrees into limelight.
Thereafter, the impact of the indigenization decree on the Nigerian Society with its
attendant class-issues was vividly discussed. With a highlight of its prospects and
limitations on the economy.
One is however, constrained to carry-out the research through secondary sources
(content analysis) of information available in the Libraries, Archives and Speeches
which include published Works, Books, Journals, Newspapers, Magazines,
Government Publications, Paper Presentations and Pamphlets etc.
