We have crude oil but we are still poor

[Makus]

This isn't the right board for this topic but it is understood, when it comes to misuse of crude oil and other natural resources Nigeria isn't the only country that deals with this, a lot of other countries also have corrupt leaders as well that uses the resources from their country for their selfish purposes. There is a lot more than crude that can build Nigeria's economy but for some reasons Nigerians have only decided to focus only on crude oil although It is capable of generating enough resources that can keep the economy running smoothly but bad governance isn't going to allow this. Nigeria is capable of becoming like dubai and other countries but it's quite unfortunate that the country is going through all these because of bad leaders.

[slapper]

Nigeria's oil: an underground source of wealth, if only the people on the surface could agree on who owned it, who sold it and where the money went.

From what I've read, a lot of that community development money does get paid out. It just isn't paid out to the community. It goes to the chiefs, youth leaders and contractors (who just happen to be somebody's cousin). The company ticks its box, a few guys in the village get paid and the old woman waiting for her stipend gets nothing. It's not only a problem in Abuja or with Shell either. Some of the problems live within the community itself.

The thing about Ogoniland is that it'll take literally decades to clean up the pollution, according to a 2011 UNEP study. How are you supposed to make a living farming and fishing in a place like that?

Funnily enough there is a ridiculous amount of gas flared in the delta region, and over in the US it has been documented that some miners have set up rigs at flare sites so they can profit from that kind of wasted gas. I think it would be a great idea to have a community owned mining setup there, imagine turning wasted gas into income!

There have been some successful efforts made through legal channels. For instance, a group of Nigerian farmers successfully sued Shell in a Dutch court in 2021, although it took more than a decade to achieve. Still, it's worth asking yourself how long you're willing to give a company to honor its commitments before you stop waiting and do something about it.

[Rruchi man]

We as Nigerians we have crude oil but our country is still poor and going backward on a daily. And the question is, is it suppose to be so as an oil producing country, states, LGA's and communities?

Natural resources could be a blessing, and they could also be a curse at the same time because if they are managed properly and distributed, they can lead to an almost even distribution of wealth for citizens, a blessing in this case and a curse when mismanaged. A curse also when it brings the country to a level where they cannot think outside the resources they have or even try to seek another resource. Some resources will cause overdependence.

Knowing that the economic progress of a country depends on how well they are able to manage their resources, you can establish that a country that does not have as many resources as some other country can even be doing better than that country if they are able to properly manage what they have and make proper plans. An abundance of natural resources does not automatically equal economic growth and progress. If the resources are mismanaged, the country can even be poorer than the country that has no natural resource whatsoever.

[Issa56]

We as Nigerians we have crude oil but our country is still poor and going backward on a daily. And the question is, is it suppose to be so as an oil producing country, states, LGA's and communities?

You should know where our problem is coming from, you should know everything is wrong, and you should know the reason for that. With the kind of mineral resources Nigeria is having, they are suppose to be so developed, because the country is blessed with different mineral resources, but our leaders are the ones making use of our resources to enrich themselves and their family members.

We blessed with lots of mineral resources, but things are just getting worst in the country, the economy is getting worst, the level of unemployment is increasing, their is no sign that the country is even having mineral resources, because things are just getting worst. We having crude oil in our country, but the refineries are not working, we will have to export crude oil to other countries for it to be refined, then we are going to buy back the refined product, is that not really crazy.

[obuoma]

Having natural resources does not make  country rich, what create wealth is having the knowledge and political will to convert harness those resources and convert them to wealth. This problem is not peculiar to Nigeria or Africa, so many countries and continents have their share of it. From Afghanistan to Congo, Niger, Ivory Coast to North America, there are always those countries that have abundance of resources but lacks the political will to convert them to wealth. We should move from the era of blaming the West and imperialist for the problem because any country that is able to fix their leadership can make headway like China did.

[Doll2233]

Having crude oil does not make a country rich, but a country is rich if it is able to manage its resources well and to derive maximum benefit from them for its citizens. The Nigerian problem, is not only about not having good resources but it is also about their failures to turn these types of resources into meaningful development. It is very disappointing to see that the communities who are holding big oil companies still lack basic amenities , despite the fact that wealth is extracted from their land. Without proper accountability and proper monitoring, they become all about relations, development, promises and they all become meaningless. Occasional compensation and promises should be given to communities who are the host. They deserve to be provided with clean water, electricity, good infrastructure, roads etc. and education and employment opportunities as well. Wealth generated by oil should bring betterment to the lives of people, not just betterment to the lives of government officials or the companies.

[Crypto_Timothy]

But none of these is being carried out.

Nigeria is definitely full of these resources but we have bad governance so of course everything will look backwards. Like for example if contracts are awarded to a particular community, usually what happens is that the money will be collected by the community heads and they spill into family funds to support their children and generations to come. Then you have the self sabotaging government who have been fake promising fixing refineries in the country, then the debts. They're just so many problems, I can start listing that we suffer from because of the greed of the few persons at the top.
Nigeria is truly a blessed nation but we have step up and do things right otherwise the same situation we have been inside we will still find ourselves inside.

[GeorgeJohn]

This thread belong to the politics and society (Naija).

Actually you're right, but he has the right to leave the thread here also...

You MIGHT be right to refer this thread to the Nigerian Local board because from the look of things, it's a local economy matter which insiders can relate best at it.
It's also a good reminder that other countries such as the UK, Russian, UK, China, Japan etc as individual countries are brought here and Nigeria as a sovereignty country isn't bad at all to discuss its economic activities and news here.

Which part of the country in the world you can compare their economic activity with the country Nigeria economy...All this countries you mentioned is far better than Nigeria economy...so their's nothing bad discussing it here...Nigeria have so many natural resources as source of income but yet they're behind other developed countries...

I have admitted the fact that this thread can also be discuss in local section...but at this point the discusision has to do with a country economy, which the discussion is also welcomed here...

[LOVER BOY 422]

Sometimes I seat and ask this same question and reason just like you do, it bleed my heart to see that the young youths are still unemployed till today there agreement they reached non has been followed exactly, but we all know that the foreigners  that are drilling our oil and the natural gas has done there best they have done there part , but the problems is in the hands of our brothers who think we are not supposed to eat and have our rights , it's said earlier that non of the white men are holding anything that belong to us it's our people who are respresinting us in the oil industries that are enbazuling all our money and the right of the citizens, the white men don't have a hand in all this , but if anyone pointing fingers at them you are just wasting your time, they have did what they are supposed to be doing , but people forget one thing the more you are eating the tears of  others , God is watching, but nothing anyone can do , they have been fighting this no way , they do peaceful demonstration yet nothing still change , all what we all need is a good leader, the holy Bible says when the good person lead the people rejoice.
I believe some day a good person will emerge and all the right of the supposed citizens will be benefited.