Historicizing Development: Nigeria’s 1945 Colonial Plan by Bekeh Utietiang, Ph.D. butietiang@wju.edu Department of History, Wheeling Jesuit University Wheeling, West Virginia Abstract In Africa, the period after the Second World War was marked by expansive development policies and practices. Development had a dual purpose of responding to colonial poverty and giving a new lease of life to empire. This paper historicizes the planning process that led to Nigeria’s Ten-Year Plan of Development. It challenges us to rethink why development has failed in Africa. The paper invites the readers to consider the ideological and material interests that colonial powers had in Africa and how that informed the planning blueprints and implementation of the Nigerian plan. Keywords: Nigeria, development, colonial office, colonies, Colonial Development and Welfare Act of 1940. Introduction The Great Depression changed Britain’s thinking toward its overseas colonies. It exposed the contradictions of the colonial state. The economies of the colonies were not dependent on internal consumption but on external trade. For this reason, “the world economic depression that began in 1929 exposed the contradictions and tensions inherent in European colonial rule. Changes began to gather pace and gradually assumed a new complexion in the wake of the crisis.” 1 European colonial rule had presented itself as a benevolent mission through which ‘backward’ Africans were to be ‘civilized.’ However, it was an exploitative mission. The economic relations between the colonizing powers and Africa were built upon the exploitation of the natural and human resources of the colonial people. The products originating from Africa were sold in the international market and the capital generated was used to further their mission in Africa. 5 The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.8. no.9, December 2015