Nigeria’s External Debt: Is the Country receding into a new Debt Trap?

The debt question in Nigeria is a recurring issue that bothers on the structure of the economy, nature of the international capitalist system, behaviour of the governing class and politics of the belly. This research adopts the dependency approach to explain the correlation between the nature of the international economy and political system and the peripheral nature of Nigeria’s economy; and the social forces engaged in the struggles on the nature of external debt. The dependency theory provides the basis to proffer alternatives to resolve the recurring debt crisis in the Nigerian economy. This work finds that the country’s external debt crisis is the result of the location of the Nigerian economy in the global capitalist system as dependent, peripheral entity; and the resultant unequal relations between the core capitalist states and Nigerian state. The research finds that the debt problem is exacerbated by the internal contradictions that characterize the national economy. The resolution of the debt burden requires radical shift from orthodoxies, which addresses the question of dependence, peripheral and neo-colonial nature of the Nigerian economy. The debt portfolio will likely increase when the economy remains largely import dependent, lacking export orientation, characterized by a predatory state, and reflecting politics of the belly. This work posits that the country will likely recede into new debt trap except its status in the global political economy is addressed.