Nigeria at the cross-roads - can the “giant of Africa” overcome her social, political and economic challenges?

The paper, beyond a comprehensive geographical, social and economic introduction of the most populous country of Africa, attempts to provide an insight to those challenges and problems which Nigeria faces nowadays. Beyond the rapid growth of the population, another main factor is the exploitation and export of crude oil which has been providing Nigeria with “easy cash” for the recent few decades. Another point is that agricultural holdings are small and scattered, and farming is carried out with simple tools and techniques. Modern and large-scale farms are not common as well as the manufacturing industry is also lagging. The political leadership and the economic decision makers of the country have already recognized the necessity of re-structuring the economy, the development of the food and agricultural sector and the manufacturing industry. All these are of key importance in order to stop frictions and tensions among the various ethnic and religious groups of the Nigerians and further develop their peaceful and long-run co-existence in the country. The study also talks about the desired ways and those measures which the former or incumbent Nigerian leadership has already made in order to find appropriate answers to the challenges. A brief overview from theEuropean point of view makes the analysis, which was prepared on the basis of mainly secondary and partially primary research, complete.