“Nigeria is a wonderful country that has everything you want in a modern country. Especially when talking about economic development. We have grown to see a country that has worked hard to become number one in Africa. We have diversified our economy, we now have various sources of income, we get our earnings from oil, agricultural products, technology products, logistics, etc.
These important steps have taken Nigeria far ahead of her African counterparts and aiming for the leaders of the world’s economy. This to say the least is not short of a miracle because we are all awed about this wonderful achievement. Now 45% of our external revenue is being derived from oil, 35% from agriculture, 10% from technology, and others account for 10%. Although we are three years late on the vision 20-2020 arrangement, we are happy that Nigeria was able to pull this feat off despite various pessimist views from analysts and experts.” – May 29, 2023 culled from the swearing in speech of the newly elected president who has been voted in for a second term in office (purely fictional but we can hope, can’t we?).
Now back from the journey of fiction to reality, things are not as good as an average Nigerian wants it to be. Economy of a country is one of the main pillars of a country, in fact, the backbone of any great country. In the pre-oil years (before 1972 when industrial production began), Nigeria derived her main source of income from agricultural products however, down through the years, oil has replaced agriculture as the main source of externally generated revenue. These are facts we need to know:
1. Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956.
2. The first oil field began production in 1958.
3. Nigeria produces about 2.3 million barrels of crude oil per day
4. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.
5. Oil industry was nationalized in May 1971 by creation of Nigeria National Oil Corporation.
6. Nigeria has been a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since 1971.
7. Nigeria’s proven oil reserves according to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) are between 16 and 22 billion barrels, other sources claim there could be as much as 35.3 billion barrels.
8. Nigeria produces 2.7% of the total world oil production.
9. As at 2002, oil accounted for about 85% of all foreign exchange earnings.
10. As at July, 2012, oil revenue accounted for 646.5 billion naira of the total revenue for the month which was 825.4 billion naira. Oil accounts for about 80% of total government revenue and 95% of export income.
11. Nigeria loses about 20% of oil revenue to oil thefts (according to NNPC).
12. Experts have predicted that the current oil deposits may dry up in 2054(except more deposits are discovered).
13. The majority (about 70%) of Nigeria’s natural gas is flared off and it is estimated that Nigeria loses US$18.2 million daily from the loss of the flared gas.
Seeing these facts and the fact that we depended on agriculture before oil came into the equation, it is obvious that we are really underachieving considering the potential. It is also important to note that agriculture has gone downwards in terms of productivity and consequently the amount of generated revenue. It is clear that abundance of oil has inhibited our creativity. We have neglected agriculture sector and not even explored the option of natural gas. Natural gas if explored to its potential has been predicted will surpass oil revenue.
Governor Babatunde Fashola on Thursday 17th of January, 2012 stated that Lagos state is the only state in Nigeria that can survive without oil as tax laws have been fully implemented in the state. He also stated that the taxes have funded most of the projects being carried out in the state. This is a positive trend considering that the largest economy in the world, the United States of America, the second largest economy in the world, China, derive the major share of their revenue from taxes. It will be good to adopt such a practice in Nigeria. However, in such a corrupt country as Nigeria where accountability at best is dormant, very few Nigerians will pay their taxes willingly.
This is because we are already performing far below our potential with oil funds and no citizen wants to enrich our corrupt leaders. Better performance in budget implementation will go a long way in encouraging Nigerians to pay their taxes willingly. To support this point further, in Lagos state where tax laws are in full practice, the government uses the funds judiciously. Lagos state had a budget implementation of 89% in 2012. That is a performance that encourages you to pay tax.
Obviously, this is a challenge to other state governors that it is not too small to start diversifying in their various states. We cannot always wait for the federal government before taking a beneficial step. This is a good place to start if we want to be among the top 20 economies by the year 2020(corruption is the best place to start obviously).
(culled from http://voiceofsagacity..com/2013/01/fashola-made-great-point.html)

Feels good reading this speech all over again.

Why?

Olumidzti: Why?

Don't worry, not too many people can read and comprehend.

You're refering to the introduction?

Do you really think all these analyses can work? Our leaders don't care abt us. The only thing they care abt is their pocket. The lands in Niger delta have mostly been destroyed by oil spills. Government said nothing. The niger delta citizens doesn't benefit frm a mineral mined on their own land...

9ja_go_better: Do you really think all these analyses can work? Our leaders don't care abt us. The only thing they care abt is their pocket. The lands in Niger delta have mostly been destroyed by oil spills. Government said nothing. The niger delta citizens doesn't benefit frm a mineral mined on their own land...

I see where you're coming from bt as they say dt we're d leaders of tomorrow, there's nothing bad abt knowing the present state of things...