CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY For decades now, Nigeria has been experiencing disappointing performance in terms of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and the general development of her economy. As a result, there’s no improvement in the level of poverty. In the 90s, came the era of globalization which connotes external opening and increased role of markets domestically (i.e. the market economy). To the developing world, market economy is a modern way of turning the economy around. The essence of globalization is to move the economy towards external liberation, focusing on market oriented economic system, export-led strategy and stabilization of the economy. In Nigeria, it was the era of structural adjustment programme in collaboration with the IMF and World Bank. The governments in the developing world, believes that it is more desirable to globalize which simply means to open up the economy and penetrate international markets. In time past, the world economy has undergone a fundamental shift towards an integrated and coordinated global division of labour in production and trade. In the 1950s and 1960s, productions were within national boundaries. The increase of oil prices in the late 1970s and the contractionary monetary policies of the United States during 1979 and 1982 period led to the increased interest rates and consequently indebted developing countries found they unable to service their debts. Continual refinancing was the only way to avoid default. By the end of the mid 1980s, there were both internal and external balances. Globalization is a term that is frequently used but seldom defined. It refers to the increase in the share of economic activity taking place across national boundaries. It is usually driven by a push towards liberalization of trade and investment regime. It minimizes the