THE NIGER DELTA AND NIGERIAN ECONOMY: TRANSITION FROM AGRARIAN TO OIL ECONOMY: SOME MATTERS ARISING
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Date
2020
Authors
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Publisher
NIGERIAN DEFENCE ACADEMY PUBLISHERS, KADUNA
Abstract
The poor performance of many African economies has become a matter of great concern to scholars and analysts. Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy prior the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta region. This paper x-rays the trends of economic growth and development as well as discusses/assesses the implications of matters arising from the pains and gains of the developments. The Niger Delta is the centrepoint, being the great centre of trade with Europe during the slave trade era as from the 15th century; also the second largest palm oil producer in the world next to Malaysia when the palm [‘legitimate’] trade became dominant in the 19th century as well as became the storehouse of petroleum resources since the 20th century. With the oil boom, commerce developed and Nigeria became a dumping ground for all sorts of western products. Like a mixture of both blessing and curse, success in commerce meant increasing set-back for agriculture and the rural economy generally. Findings reveal that it is a different ball game if a country is abundantly endowed as Nigeria is, and it fails to turn this abundance into both boom and boon to the citizens as well as the oil bearing communities. It argues that Nigeria is plagued by perennial economic, political and social crises where growth remains unsustainable and development elusive. The data used were mainly from primary and secondary sources. The study concludes that as Nigeria presently faces two intimidating enemies; the coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented crashing oil prices, both are beyond the country’s control and have the potential to do priceless harm to the biggest economy in Africa. It is better late than never to re-echo the warning that “Wealth has wings. With its wings, it can do one of two things: it can just fly away, leaving nothing behind or it can fly about bringing in more wealth in the process.’’The paper calls for a more proactive and beyond lip-service approach by policymakers towards the plight of the Niger Delta region and the non-negotiable diversification of the country’s economy as oil is worthless in a society without consumption.
Description
Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy prior the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta is the centrepoint, being the great centre of trade with Europe during the slave trade era as from the 15th century; also the second largest palm oil producer in the world next to Malaysia when the palm [‘legitimate’] trade became dominant in the 19th century as well as became the storehouse of petroleum resources since the 20th century. This chapter x-rays the trends of economic growth and development as well as assesses the implications of matters arising from the pains and gains of the developments. Like a mixture of both blessing and curse, success in commerce meant increasing set-back for agriculture and the rural economy generally. It is a different ball game if a country is abundantly endowed as Nigeria is, and it fails to turn this abundance into both boom and boon to the citizens as well as the oil bearing communities. It is better late than never to re-echo the warning that “Wealth has wings. With its wings, it can do one of two things: it can just fly away, leaving nothing behind or it can fly about bringing in more wealth in the process.’’The author calls for a more proactive and beyond lip-service approach by policymakers towards the plight of the Niger Delta region and the non-negotiable diversification of the country’s economy as oil is worthless in a society without consumption.
Keywords
The Niger Delta, Nigerian Economy, Transition, Agrarian Economy, Oil Economy, Matters Arising
Citation
APA, Pp. 185-196