Conducting empirical software engineering research in Nigeria: the posing problems

Empirical software engineering research has advanced in many parts of the world especially the western nations, but little has been contributed in this research domain by the developing nations such as Nigeria, the well-acclaimed 'Giant of Africa'. The fast growing software industry in the country suggests that we need to incorporate solid software engineering studies into the various software process activities of the stakeholders in the industry, if at all quality software products must be turned out into the ever-competing global market. Recent survey of the Nigeria software industry shows that the industry is just coming into limelight, and that the industry is beset with 'software process compromise'. This short article takes a cursory look into the state of software engineering research in Nigeria with particular reference to the nature of the nation's software industry and the student/academic environment as well as their posing problems. The article concludes with some cogent recommendations.