Nigeria is currently the largest economy in Africa with a per capita GDP that ranks 121st in the world. The impact of this sudden change on the different sectors of the Nigerian economy needs to be well understood for the benefit of sectorial sustainability. Drawing on a review of developmental policies and programmes since post-independence era, the programme logic model is accepted as a framework for addressing the research aim, which is to develop a framework for the developmental future of Nigeria. A 6-way heuristic evaluation is carried out based on problems/issues, stakeholders’ needs/assets, desired results, influential factors, strategies, and assumptions. This approach provides a schematic play-out of the feasibility of the evaluated programmes. Analysis shows that, while there has been policy mismatch and poor implementation of programmes by governments, the various proposed programmes were well intended towards developing a thriving Nigeria. The suggested short-term strategy is to incentivise cash crops farming. In the medium-term, the strategy should be aimed at hastening the implementation of the infrastructure master plan and public-private partnerships with successful short-term stakeholders. For the long-term, the prescribed strategies for achieving the technology development are core implementation of science and technology policies and adequate innovation and management of technologies. The implication, therefore, is that there is urgent need to encourage ‘productive’ infrastructural development, which will jump start a knowledge based economy in the medium-term, and a serviced based economy in the long-term.
Keywords: Developmental, Infrastructural, Logic Model Approach, Long Term Economy, Medium, Programmes, Short, policies
