The emergence of oil in the political economy of Nigeria brought structural changes
which proved difficulty for policy makers to manage. Consequently, the economy became quite
susceptible to external shocks due to over-reliance on Oil. Therefore, the development of the
non-oil sector had been a major national objective of succeeding governments in Nigeria. This
paper examines restructuring efforts of the Nigerian economy, the existing promising
opportunities in the non-oil sector to indicate lessons for less developed countries. The paper
concludes with policy options recommendation for viable private and public sector investments
to catalyze the development of the non-oil sector.