Nigeria’s central involvement with the global market has witnessed an extremely terrifying historical continuity from past and present; as a supplier of, first, slaves, then other commodities, and now the vast oil, all of which have been central to the emergence of capitalism and modern world.
There has been avalanche of varied opinion and theoretical positions on globalization between scholars. Neo-liberal economists view it as advantageous, the Marxists see it as exploiting, and that while the Western capitalist economies have well developed structures and institutions to cope with the trend, and less developed world is extremely precarious because of its peripheral position in the global capitalist system. Therefore, it is another form of imperialism, an underdevelopment strategy, a risk to underdeveloped world.
Consequently, using secondary data and qualitative method, in looking at globalization and its consequences for political, social and cultural development of Nigeria, this study found out that globalization is a dominant factor to understanding the Nigeria story, not as a product of prosperity, but as a product of poverty. The history of globalization and its local meanings runs much deeper and in a profound way is wrapped up in poverty, subjugation and exploitation of Nigeria’s resources. Among other related factors, the interconnectedness of the global economy, which is encapsulated under the insuperable of globalization, is a way of opening up Nigeria economy to the business operations of expansionary global corporations marred by greed and predatory corporate exploitation.
Though, Nigeria cannot be an Island on itself as the world is becoming a global village, therefore, efforts must be made to patently address certain fundamental issues so as to cover the gap between the rich and the poor.