ABSTRACT
This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book. It focuses on an overview of development mainly as it is employed in the book. Development is used here as a comprehensive and multifaceted process of change in a society. This understanding of development as both comprehensive and encompassing justifies an approach hinged on examining a wide range of factors influencing development in Nigeria which was adopted in the book. The main assumption here is that in spite of undoubted human and material endowments Nigeria’s development experience has been less than commensurate and could be analogized as a cyclical missing of opportunities. The chapter provides an overview of the methodological triangulation framework which provided information for the various chapters of the book, and highlights the structure and organization of the book. The book is structured for ease of presentation and articulation on five major systematic themes or concerns seen as definitive of Nigeria’s development experience since independence in 1960. Each of these major themes is further composed of different chapters dealing with recurrent issues and forces in the development aspirations and nationhood of Nigeria.
