Commercialization is geared towards improving economic performance through

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks how commercialization improves economic performance. In Nigerian government studies, commercialization means that government-owned enterprises (parastatals) are run on business principles, with the aim of making profit and becoming self-sustaining. Often some shares are sold to the public, though government keeps control.

Step 2: Explain the concept Under commercialization, government agencies such as NEPA (now PHCN), NITEL, and Nigerian Airways were expected to:

• Cover their costs from the revenue they generate
• Reduce reliance on government subsidies
• Improve efficiency and customer service
• Operate in a more competitive environment

This was part of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the late 1980s under General Babangida, together with privatization.

Step 3: Evaluate the options

• A. Central planning and control: This is the opposite. Central planning is typical of command or socialist economies, whereas commercialization moves toward market principles.
• B. Healthy competition: This fits. Commercialization exposes public enterprises to market forces, so they must be efficient, cut waste, and serve customers well.
• C. Business monopolies: Wrong. Monopolies reduce efficiency, and the reform aims to reduce the monopoly power of state enterprises.
• D. Foreign takeovers: Wrong. Foreign ownership is not the goal of commercialization. It is closer to privatization, and even there the aim is not takeover.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is B. healthy competition.

Exam tip: Remember the difference:

• Commercialization = government keeps ownership, but the enterprise runs like a business (profit and efficiency).
• Privatization = ownership is transferred to private individuals or companies.

Any option with words like "control", "monopoly", or "takeover" is usually a distractor in questions about economic reform.