Privatization of Public Enterprises in Nigeria: Recipe for Sleaze or National Development?

t This paper evaluates privatization of public enterprises in Nigeria with a view to determining whether it is a mere recipe for sleaze or that it impacts positively on national development. The study examines the efforts made by both the federal and state governments in Nigeria to divest their interests in running businesses which are assumed to be better handled by private investors. The paper compares privatization in some other countries to assess how the programme is being handled and the kind of results they deliver with a view to replicating such measures in Nigeria. The research made use of a qualitative approach through intensive content analysis. Data for the study were obtained from books, journal articles, published materials from the internet and other public sources. Findings from the study reveal that privatization of public enterprises which is supposed to provide revenue to the government through the sale or concession of such corporations, improve operational efficiency as well as save costs from poor non-regenerative investments have neither helped to improve government revenues nor impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.