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.

[viljy]

Shell, Chevron, and other companies engaged in oil production in Nigeria have oil. The state itself also has a share, but these revenues are apparently spent on something else, not on improving the population’s living conditions. Why is that? Well, you’ll need to ask your government.

Government are only after taxes than thinking of developing the country. I will also blame people on this for not developing the technological part and some other areas that they lag beginning Nigeria. The government can not be doing everything, but the government have huge part of the blame for not encouraging the rich people. Many among the rich people especially the politicians prefer to make money in the country and use the money to establish something in other countries.

If the government does not incentivize rich people (for example, through tax breaks) or does not compel them (for example, through a tax on capital outflow) to invest in the economy of their own country, this should theoretically affect the votes in the next elections. At the very least, for the population, this is the only legitimate way to influence politicians. Another point is that if elections are rigged, it is impossible to change the situation. Public discontent will accumulate, and at some point this will lead to bad consequences for the government.

[Charles-Tim]

If the government does not incentivize rich people (for example, through tax breaks) or does not compel them (for example, through a tax on capital outflow) to invest in the economy of their own country, this should theoretically affect the votes in the next elections.

I do not know how you are linking this to the next election, but let me just focus one the economic part. If the Nigerian government are wise, it will be better to encourage the technology part that are not well developed in the country. This can help rich people go into such businesses and also make foreign investors come to Nigeria to invest in such area. Example is by making car, bike and some other automobile production to be tax free. But this kind of government that we have only know more about taxing the citizens like their government can not function without not taxing everyone, and they also still like to borrow money after the huge taxes.

[Itz-prisigold]

Good ladership is a factor that contributes to fast development too, not just about the natural resources but about how well the leaders of your country are making good use of those resources to better the country and the life of citizens and not just focus on self gains.

You made a very good point and I actually agree with you. While having lots of natural resources does not guarantee development, there’s no use if those resources are not managed properly. I would also say that accountability is as much a requirement as good leadership. Leaders should be able to explain the revenue raised from these resources and how that revenue is being used to enhance citizens lives, most especially the people of the communities where these resources are extracted. Promises are not enough with respect to development, people should actually see it and benefit from it.

[Youngrebel]

Good ladership is a factor that contributes to fast development too, not just about the natural resources but about how well the leaders of your country are making good use of those resources to better the country and the life of citizens and not just focus on self gains.

You made a very good point and I actually agree with you. While having lots of natural resources does not guarantee development, there’s no use if those resources are not managed properly. I would also say that accountability is as much a requirement as good leadership. Leaders should be able to explain the revenue raised from these resources and how that revenue is being used to enhance citizens lives, most especially the people of the communities where these resources are extracted. Promises are not enough with respect to development, people should actually see it and benefit from it.

Exactly, and I think we should also look beyond leadership and accountability snd focus on the institutions responsible for managing these resources because this natural resources can generate great revenue is supposed to bring good development to this country, but based of lack of strong institutions, and proper monitoring, that wealth has become a source of corruption rather than development and another important issue I do discuss with my friends as an ijaw man is resource control and equitable distribution, because we own this communities where these resources are extracted and we should not be left out with just environmental pollution, and poor infrastructure while the benefits go places without minerals resources, this pains me most.

[Kelward]

They say that "in the abundance of water the fool is tasty", Nigeria, has crude oil which is a lucrative business that generates steady income for the country yet poverty is in the land, so are the ordinary citizens especially those from the oil producing communities the fool? No they are not the fools, they are the victims of actions of fools, I wouldn't call the shylock oil companies fools because they are just there to milk the oil and settle the government. The fools are the wicked corrupt politicians who don't care about the poverty in their country.

Any country that has crude oil yet their country is not developed is due to bad leadership, Nigeria, is not an exception, I've heard about other countries like Venezuela, which also have crude oil yet the poverty rate in these countries are very high. What these countries need are good leaders who are not corrupt, who are ready to use crude oil revenues to develop their countries.

[Jaweria parveen]

A few years ago, when oil was available in some countries, its price was quite high in those countries and even today its price is quite high, but your country is still poor, there may be many reasons for this. This oil is not bought in large quantities from your country, which is why you are poor, or your government keeps all that money and you do not have access to it, which is why you are poor. The oil business is a very strong business all over the world, so the UAE and other countries that sell oil are quite rich. Although it is unlikely that you own it, which is quite surprising because many countries earn their income from oil and they have also become very fast and prosperous from it.