Abstract:
Governments in most developing countries have recognized that small scale
industries play an important role in the acceleration of growth and development in
their economies. As a developing country, Nigeria is not an exception. Nigeria
attempted several programmes, such as National Economic Reconstruction funds,
Industrial layouts and Establishment of Nigerian bank for Commerce and Industry,
etc., to improve the production and growth of this vital sector during the colonial
era as well as after the independence at 1960; however some of these programmes
succeeded in bringing little changes, while others are unsuccessful. The objective of
this study is to assess the viability of programmes and proffer solutions that could
bring about changes in this vital sector.
Secondary data such as government publications and corporation’s annual reports
as well as interviews conducted with officials and managers were collected and
statistical techniques are used for analysis. The study reveals that small scale
industries have not seriously impacted on the areas of large scale immediate
employment, development of indigenous industrial sector, production of highly
specialized goods and filling in cracks between large industries in the economy. It is
observed that unless concrete steps are taking in identifying the problems, then the
country will continue to chase shadows.
