Abstract
The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 saw the scramble for Africa by the greatest powers at the time, even without Africa's consent. Unfortunately, after many years of Metropolitan manipulation of the African continent sequel to colonialism, a new scramble for Africa has appeared on the horizon. In Nigeria, long years of careful image laundering seemed to have portrayed China as both the dominant and most preferred competitor for the country's patronage in the neo-colonial era hence, the argument that
colonialism was detrimental to Nigeria's development appears to have been subsumed in the expectation that China would be more humanistic and development-oriented in its dealings with the Country. This, paper evaluates the impact of Nigeria-China bilateral relations on Nigeria's development. It adopts the Theory of the Post-Colonial State to demonstrate that China's assumed credentials as a better development partner for Nigeria may not obviate the tendency for exploitation which often occurs in relations between developed and underdeveloped/developing countries. Accordingly, it warns that despite China's benevolent role in Nigeria's recent infrastructural undertakings, Sino-Nigerian relations may become counterproductive for Nigeria's development in the long run. Consequently, it advocates that a policy of non-alignment with any of the competing powers would be more beneficial to the Nigerian
economy.