We have crude oil but we are still poor

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

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?

It isn't about what you have but what you can do with that which you have that makes you stand out and achieve your propose in life and that's what Nigeria is lacking as a whole. We aren't the only ones having this issue of "we have crude oil but are still struggling" countries like Venezuela is in this mess too. Other African countries are also includes so it isn't just a Nigerian problem but a problem of not knowing how to manage the natural resource that has been given to you by nature.

When we allowed our Oli to be extracted then asked for peanut's in reture, what were we expecting to happen? instead of asking for infrastructure to be built, refinery and factors, we asked for food and monthly stipends which shows how uneducated we were and that's affecting us to this Day.

We have to grow as a county and invest into building structures that'll eradicate peoverty from the country through creating if job opportunity as we have the capacity to do that as a country with crude oil but bad govenwmmt won't allow that happen as they're benefitting from our suffering.

[Sarah Jordan]

It's painful to see my country Nigeria regressing by the day. Things are getting expensive by the day and it is affecting the poor masses.
And all these agreement mentioned here are been carried out because our leaders in the government don't don't care about the citizens. Because if they do every agreement made should be kept. This I don't care lifestyle of we Nigerians is really spoiling things for us.

[trendcoin]

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?

Raw materials are an important issue, but processing those raw materials to produce and sell final products is an even more important issue. The outer casing of a cell phone might be made of plastic. That plastic might be a petroleum product, and the material cost of the plastic used might be less than $1, but when you want to buy it from a store, you might have to pay several hundred dollars because it is now more than just plastic.

Owning oil is certainly important, but possessing the know-how to process it is even more important.

[Franklyn-wood]

It's painful to see my country Nigeria regressing by the day. Things are getting expensive by the day and it is affecting the poor masses.
And all these agreement mentioned here are been carried out because our leaders in the government don't don't care about the citizens. Because if they do every agreement made should be kept. This I don't care lifestyle of we Nigerians is really spoiling things for us.

I was discussing this same issues with my nabours today when she came back from the market and was lamenting that a bottle of kerosene is now 3000, I laughed not to much her, but to express how unsurprised I was about that, because even the fuel pump price has been rising and falling mean while all this nature resources are in our lands and yet we the citizens finds it hard to survive.
We being poor it a a result of mismanagement or our natural resources and greedy leaders. Some of the leaders are not there to serve humanity but to serve themselves.

[Tamaperdana]

Snip

I feel sorry for you, because it's undeniable that living in a country that has no progress at all is very tiring. Even in the country where I live, things aren't going well either, perhaps a little better than yours. But speaking of Nigeria, I think there are several things your country must do if it wants to progress. First, corruption must be eliminated, because in my opinion, it is the most dominant cause of your country's misery. Second, the government must be able to manage the country well, namely, its vision and mission must be truly clear. Furthermore, it's undeniable that your country is too dependent on oil, and other sectors are somewhat left behind. So that's clearly not a good thing. So, while other sectors must also be developed, corruption and the government in your country must be fixed first, because that is the main cause.

[goldkingcoiner]

Nigeria needs to stop measuring wealth in oil barrels and billions of naira and instead start measuring it in hospitals, schools, roads, jobs, clean water and improved living standards.

A people who are lead by the morally corrupt and educationally incompetent cannot build wealth because it will fall apart faster than they can built it. It is like trying to hold water in a colander- there are too many holes, so it will leak out.

Raise the quality of life with things that are meant to last into the future. Only then will you see improvement.

[Bigjoe33]

It's painful to see my country Nigeria regressing by the day. Things are getting expensive by the day and it is affecting the poor masses.
And all these agreement mentioned here are been carried out because our leaders in the government don't don't care about the citizens. Because if they do every agreement made should be kept. This I don't care lifestyle of we Nigerians is really spoiling things for us.

In this case, regression is inevitable, because the government are doing things either knowingly or unknowingly that breeds poverty and bad economic situation.

All they do at the federal level is place heavy taxes on importation, production and on business generally, and after that, they siphon the money and then move to the next one, which is yo borrow heavily. Isn't that ridiculous? How does a nation with such governmental leadership and activities grow, no way. Nigeria has all it takes to be one of the world's best countries, but those in charge of economics are rye reason they are moving backwards daily.

[fruktik]

Isn’t it already too late to count on crude oil? As far as I’m concerned, the era of hydrocarbons will come to an end in just a few years. Yes, there will still be some demand, but the price of this raw material will be absolutely negligible.

That’s why we should turn our attention to more promising industries. For example, we should look toward solar energy. As far as I know, African countries have an abundance of solar energy. If we start working on this now, in a few years we’ll be able to sell the surplus energy to other countries.

[Cityhunter34]

It is absolutely the fault of the people representing us and not the company's fault. Honestly, it is very sad to see that a community with enough crude oil is still living poorly. It doesn't make any sense at all, because if anything happens along the lines, they will still be the ones who will surfer from it.

I think it is a general issue, because I often see communities that have enough oil complaining about the same thing, which is not supposed to be so. I think it is a normal thing

[Chilwell]

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?

Raw materials are an important issue, but processing those raw materials to produce and sell final products is an even more important issue. The outer casing of a cell phone might be made of plastic. That plastic might be a petroleum product, and the material cost of the plastic used might be less than $1, but when you want to buy it from a store, you might have to pay several hundred dollars because it is now more than just plastic.

Owning oil is certainly important, but possessing the know-how to process it is even more important.

What you have said is cleared, having the raw material is also important but processing it is another thing entirely because having it without processing it is as if it doesn't exist. Yes Nigeria is blessed with crude oil and still continue to live in extreme poverty, there are a lot of things behind it which the public do not understand, Nigeria is independent but in terms of natural resources they are still dependent despite it is located on their land.

The Western have not free Nigeria from all this resources and that is why they are always involved in every of our affairs, showing concern but not positively. The same people does not have this resources we have but they own the one we have in our land and that is why we the Citizens cannot enjoy what we think we have. International monetary fund policy and also world Bank has putting Nigeria in a cage where they cannot move out, and that is why we are still suffering.

[Taricoins]

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.

I think this companies names don't imply any more as a lot of companies has spammed out after the revamping of the bodies in charge of petroleum resources, most of them are now Nigerian based companies with a lot of foreign investors, the problem is not only in Nigeria, alot of this happen because of the misuse and malhandling of resources, Nigeria has alot of money but its stuck to a hand of money, some of the money some individuals have is beyond comprehension whilst the poor suffer

[Juse14]

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?

When you travel and log in to our local communities in the villages as SPDC Shell host communities that has now been taking over by Renaissance, you see that there's nothing to write home about.

The local content agreement has it that they will bring development to the Shell host communities, things like,
1. Electricity.
2. Good roads.
3. Scholarships.
4. Borehole's water.
5. Youths empowerments.
6. Employment in their companies.
7. Monthly stipends for old men/women
etc

But none of these is being carried out.

For example, our natural resources in Indonesian are abundant both from fossils and from crops that can be utilized, the biggest mistake over the years is that my country cannot manage its own natural resources which makes our country sell raw goods for export then those who buy it process it and we buy it back at a more expensive price, here the advancement of technology and human resources are low so it can not manage the mineral potentials in our country look at PT Freepot which is owned by America, they dredge the largest gold reserves in years. https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20260714/e840773ca49d4a539568c6bc4a9aca28/c.html

It was only in recent years that our country began downstream for the development of self-sufficient energy and raw materials into semi-finished materials or finished goods in order to have a better selling price.

I think that the same companies as in your country give impact at least provide jobs, regarding other assistance, it is given but only to a small part of the people, and it is for formalities only, they will not help all Nigerians, and the average foreign company is like that.

[SUPERSAIAN]

It's not just about having oil or raw materials for an economy to perform well. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, yet it also has one of the highest inflation rates. Being able to process and sell those resources is much more important. If a country cannot do both, then having those resources doesn't mean much.

Selling crude oil alone generates relatively little revenue the real value comes from refining and selling processed products. Also, relying on a single commodity or resource is not a good strategy. Countries should diversify their economies and encourage the development of other sectors.

[Victorybit1]

Nigeria needs to stop measuring wealth in oil barrels and billions of naira and instead start measuring it in hospitals, schools, roads, jobs, clean water and improved living standards.

A people who are lead by the morally corrupt and educationally incompetent cannot build wealth because it will fall apart faster than they can built it. It is like trying to hold water in a colander- there are too many holes, so it will leak out.

Raise the quality of life with things that are meant to last into the future. Only then will you see improvement.

Funny enough I have come to the conclusion that Nigerian leaders are way intelligent than alot of people but the problem is that they use that brilliance and smartness for dubious activity and same goes to any country that is stagnant and have lots of self propelling capacity resources. I feel Nigeria is in its peak production stage and give and take some years the oil will be depleted, I wonder how they would cope

[Anayochukwu]

We may have all the resources to make life worth living for everyone in Nigeria but just like most countries we lack good leaders, even with the resources in the country citizens can not do anything with it to better their lives without the government. I too have had the same thoughts about our natural resources and it's sad to see that the government doesn't have the wellbeing of the citizens at heart even though they have everything needed and the money isn't coming from their pocket or personal account but they just want to be greedy and incompetent.

[YUriy1991]

It's painful to see my country Nigeria regressing by the day. Things are getting expensive by the day and it is affecting the poor masses.
And all these agreement mentioned here are been carried out because our leaders in the government don't don't care about the citizens. Because if they do every agreement made should be kept. This I don't care lifestyle of we Nigerians is really spoiling things for us.

In many places a resource rich nation becomes a paradox, despite an abundance of natural resources, the population remains poor, lacking access to proper healthcare and adequate national infrastructure. Beyond the issue of poor political leadership and policies that fail to serve the people, education plays a critical role. It seems the young generation in Nigeria must rise up against this status quo by fostering quality education and learning how to manage their own natural resources. With a strong educational foundation, they could ensure that the nation wealth is truly enjoyed by its people, ultimately driving the country toward progress.

[JoyceBTC]

Snip

I feel sorry for you, because it's undeniable that living in a country that has no progress at all is very tiring. Even in the country where I live, things aren't going well either, perhaps a little better than yours. But speaking of Nigeria, I think there are several things your country must do if it wants to progress. First, corruption must be eliminated, because in my opinion, it is the most dominant cause of your country's misery. Second, the government must be able to manage the country well, namely, its vision and mission must be truly clear. Furthermore, it's undeniable that your country is too dependent on oil, and other sectors are somewhat left behind. So that's clearly not a good thing. So, while other sectors must also be developed, corruption and the government in your country must be fixed first, because that is the main cause.

The question is “who will fix the corruption”? The whole system is corrupt already and fixing it is not something that can just happen, except everybody currently in the system leaves and new people come in, which is hard. It really sad to see citizen of a country suffering or going through hard time because of the government when they have resources already, to make their country a better place but they are been deprived of it. I think by the time the citizens starts electing good government officials to the system that are not corrupt, things can gradually become better.

[Queen Julie]

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?

I think the problem is not that Nigeria doesn’t have resources, but it’s how we’re using them. Yes we have crude oil yet we still depend on other countries to refine it to into products we use everyday. We’re selling what we have and then spending money to buy it back in another form. It makes me wonder what exactly we’re gaining from have so much oil.
Although me to , having natural resources doesn’t automatically make a country rich. What matters is how well those resources are managed and how much benefits the citizens get from them.

[DiMarxist]

What you have to know is that for countries like Nigeria which, is blessed with both mineral and even the human capital. Two things his the cause of the problem of Nigeria, which are corruption and lack of leadership in the country. Corruption has eaten so dip that Shell and all these multinationals knows that whether they contribute the three percent which is due to the host communities , they can goes cut free. The reason when the regulatory authorities in the oil and gas industry comes they can buy them off.

There is no sense of accountability in the part of government, it's always said that everything boils down to leadership. So if there is no good leadership which is committed to putting the resources of the masses for the development of the society, so a society will be poor which is the case of Nigeria.

[serjent05]

Isn’t it already too late to count on crude oil? As far as I’m concerned, the era of hydrocarbons will come to an end in just a few years. Yes, there will still be some demand, but the price of this raw material will be absolutely negligible.

Although there are development that pushes the hydrocarbon products to become obsolete but I do not think it will happen in just a few years.  It is true that there are signs of transitions, but it will take a long time, and by that time, crude oil won't be totally obsolete, crude oil is still important in industrial applications.

That’s why we should turn our attention to more promising industries. For example, we should look toward solar energy. As far as I know, African countries have an abundance of solar energy. If we start working on this now, in a few years we’ll be able to sell the surplus energy to other countries.

Solar energy is a good thing, but the transition should not be rushed.  It needs a huge amount of capital to create solar energy infrastructure. The country needs to weigh the options and see whether transitioning from crude oil to solar energy can be funded.  Why not take advantage of both industries, improving crude oil operations while slowly building the solar energy infrastructure?  Africa have already the infrastructure needed for crude oil exploration, mining, storage, production and export, it has a ready market outside the continent. Why not fully take advantage of it while getting ready for the possible changes?