COVID-19: REPOSITIONING NIGERIA'S ECONOMY FOR THE NOW AND THE TOMORROW

The failure of past and present administrations to diversify Nigeria’s economy evident in thedependence on oil exploration and export is one among the factors responsible for the economicchallenges affecting the country. The economic situation of Nigeria has since worsened at theinstance of the outbreak of the coronavirus and its attendant ramifications on international trade;manifest in the fall price of crude oil, low foreign and domestic investments, heightened levelof unemployment and poverty etc. Interestingly, the agricultural and informationcommunication technology (ICT) sectors have since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemicproven to be among the thriving sectors in Nigeria despite the seeming neglect of the sectorsby the government. This paper examines the extent to which the potentials in the agriculturaland information communication technology (ICT) sectors may be utilized to drive sustainabledevelopment in Nigeria, Post COVID-19. The study adopts qualitative data method.Purposively selected respondents with expertise on the subject were interviewed. They includeeconomists, agricultural-economists, farmers, software consultants and developers, personnelof Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC). Further, the study adopted comparative advantage and structuralism theory as a meansof advancing the exigency of diversifying Nigeria’s economy. The study concludes that forNigeria’s economy to thrive, post covid-19 , there is an urgent need to harness the potentialsinherent in the agricultural and information communication technology (ICT) sectors of thecountry’s economy.