ABSTRACT:

The Nigeria's economy has undergone series of down turns since the early 1980'sfrom which it is yet to recover. The introduction of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) by the military government to solve the economic problems however, worsened the situation. The policy of deregulation is a major component of the structural adjustment programme which represents a holistic economic package articulated and designed by western-driven global capitalist order (Neo-Liberal economy) to meet the challenges of economic development faced by the third world. The paper reviewed major theoretical constructs underpinning the concept of deregulation by examining relevant theoretical operational framework which are usually hotly debated. The paper also reviewed various theoretical arguments advanced in favour and against deregulation respectively. It examined the various sectors of economy so far deregulated and observed that the deregulation pursue in Nigeria was not predicated on a good economic premise and therefore was bound to fail. The paper argued that the structures and conditions which a pure market economy required for effective operation of deregulation are absent in most developing countries including Nigeria. The paper concluded that deregulation, being built on the principle of free wheeling economic system presupposes that domestic made programmes are more efficient than external driven efforts at beneficial resource allocation. The deregulation policy seems to have aggravated rather than alleviating the economic problems.