orty years ago, a young Nigerian returned
home from his studies in England with his
hard-earned degree in engineering. Proud
and ready to get to work building his
country providing for his family, he accepted a
job with Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, which
was Nigeria’s national power company at the
time. The young engineer was a true Nigerian.
He was smart, he was bold and he had a huge
vision for Nigeria’s prosperity that went beyond
collecting a few bucks from foreign countries for
Nigeria’s then newfound oil. Armed with his
formal education and razor sharp mind, the
young engineer laid out a plan for Nigeria’s
prosperity, using crude oil as a way for Nigeria
to create multiple revenue streams.
After six years working with ECN, he left his post
to build the new industrial economy he thought
Nigeria deserved. He wrote a plan to create a
chemical industry based on using the oil as the
raw material to create a chemical industry, a
plastics industry, a chlorine industry and other
materials that would come right from the
Nigeria’s rich oil supply.
It was a brilliant plan that, if properly executed,
would have set Nigeria on a growth path like the
exponential growth we’ve seen in China,
Singapore, and South Korea. But no sooner had
he implemented the plan when the saboteurs
began offering bribes for him to manipulate the
cost of raw materials so third parties could
essentially rip off the Nigerian government. When
he refused, he was framed, nearly jailed and
finally lost his company.
It’s a familiar story, isn’t it? We’ve seen the
same thing and worse happen to a multitude of
would-be leaders who have bright ideas and a
passion for Nigeria but one fatal flaw – they
have integrity. Leaders who can’t be bought
don’t last as leaders very long in Nigeria. How
many ambitious Nigerians have fallen victim to
the greed and jealousy of visionless leaders? I
don’t doubt it was these same devilish leaders
who are responsible for Nigeria’s current
economic predicament.
Nigeria relies on imports for ninety percent of its
industrial raw materials. While we pump about
two million barrels of oil a day, we have to
import oil from Ivory Coast to provide petro to
fuel our cars and generators. Ivory Coast doesn’t
even have an oil well! Nigerian leaders have
voted multiple times to use Nigerian resources to
improve on Nigeria’s refineries, but soon the
money disappears and the refineries remain
unproductive.
So, what does that have to do with the American
president, Toyin? Everything.
Three years ago, I wrote an article which I
entitled Obama’s Dream is Nigeria’s Nightmare.
In it, I warned Nigerian leaders that America
would soon stop importing Nigeria's oil. At the
time I wrote the article, Nigeria exported at least
one million barrels of oil per day to the U.S.
When Obama came into office, one of his
dreams was to reduce America's dependency on
foreign oil.
I believed he would achieve his dream and the
impact would be detrimental to Nigeria, which
depends on oil revenue for over 90% of its
foreign exchange.
Just as I suspected, the U.S. has significantly
decreased imports of Nigerian oil. At the start of
2014, the U.S. was importing about 100,000
barrels of oil a day from Nigeria. That’s a 90%
drop from the million barrels a day the U.S. was
importing just a few years ago. According to an
article published in the Financial Times, the U.S.
Department of Energy did not import a single
barrel of crude to U.S.-based refiners in July, for
the first time since 1973. Today, the price of oil
has dropped from $100+ per barrel to just under
$75. Raul Pal of Global Macro Investor estimates
if the dollar remains strong, crude oil could go
down to $30 per barrel “and stay there for a
while." Can you imagine what that kind of price
drop would do to Nigeria? Life in Nigeria is
already difficult. What will happen if the nation
loses 66% of its revenue?
Now, consider the alternative. What if that young
engineer had been allowed to realize his vision?
Nigeria would be able to export other industrial
raw materials like petro chemicals, oil
derivatives, and plastics instead of being
dependent on one commodity it can’t even
control.
When I first sounded the alarm in 2010, I warned
Nigerian leaders about President Obama's plan
to wean the country off foreign oil. Some rather
clueless Nigerians argued that if the U.S. does
not buy our oil, other nations will buy it. But they
failed to realize that the economic toll America’s
dependence on its own shale oil would make on
the oil market. The change could depress oil
prices longer than Nigeria is able to withstand,
especially since Nigeria does not have any other
export revenue sources besides crude oil.
Even despite Nigeria’s imminent plunge further
into the abyss, I don’t hear any Nigerian leaders
talking about a plan for our future. None of the
people currently vying for office have mentioned
this disaster waiting to happen. No one has a
bold new vision for Nigeria, not even one that is
better than the one the young engineer came up
with forty years ago. Where there is no vision,
the people perish. And hope is founded on
visions. No vision, no hope.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy said within ten years,
"America should put a man on the moon and
return him back to earth." Just by speaking
those words into existence, Americans were
inspired to venture into previously uncharted
territories in space exploration, technology and
computer science. The results have been world-
changing. His words, no doubt, served as the
hope on which the World Wide Web was built.
Well, when Obama stated in 2009 that one of his
goals was to reduce America's dependence on
foreign oil, it propelled the whole country into a
new paradigm that opened doors for policies and
technologies that created fracking which
unleashed oil buried deep in impenetrable rocks
for centuries. Now, for the first time in America's
long history, America is now exporting oil.
Thanks to a visionary leader. Thanks to free
enterprise. Thanks to policies that unleashed
entrepreneurs.
In Nigeria, all the oil and the ground where it
exists belong to the government. In American,
the oil and the ground where the oil is buried
belong to the people who own the land and they
have the freedom and the right to explore as
they see fit as long as they do so lawfully. That
is why Nigeria's oil is a nightmare to the people
whose ancestors have owned and controlled the
land for centuries while in America, the oil has
been a blessing to the land owners whose
ancestors have owned and controlled the land
for centuries. That is why the Nigeria state of
Bayelsa has billions in oil reserve but is
languishing in poverty, while the U.S. state of
North Dakota has billions in oil reserve and is
prospering.
In Nigeria, oil is used as a weapon of Mass
destruction, while in America, oil is used as a
weapon of Mass Prosperity. In Nigeria,
everywhere there is oil, there is extreme
pollution, huge joblessness, hopelessness, and
poverty. There is no electricity, no running
water, no plumbing and no functioning schools.
Every Nigerian is suffering from the curse of
living under the boot of a bad leader. Recently,
the “Honorable” Minister of economy was quoted
as saying, "The Nigerian Government must
adjust to permanent oil price shock.” Really?
Madam Minister, it should not be a shock, the
writing was on the wall for a long time. The
state governors are scrambling to pay wages,
because 90% of their revenue is derived for oil
money handed over to them by their masters in
Abuja. Since they don't have to think about
developing or growing their economy, they are
now sitting ducks for the impending devastation
from the drop in oil revenue. If only these
honorable men and women leaders had seen the
writing on the wall, or listened to the alarm
when I raised it four years ago. Even if they
heard the alarm, it's typical of Nigerian leaders
to ignore such warnings anyway. They are too
busy stealing. Now the nightmares are here.
Even the Federal government is worried.
Nigeria’s progress has to start with a dream, a
vision, and a decision by its leaders to do what
is right.
It starts with the dreams and visions of the
people who are bold enough to support and vote
for incorrigible leaders who put the welfare,
security and prosperity of its people at the
forefront. So now in the face of falling oil prices,
the downward spiral of the Nigerian currency,
falling revenues, and the dwindling of foreign
reserves, I hope our leaders can help us to wake
up from the nightmares Nigerians have been
living for decades.
Vote, Nigeria, but don’t just vote for “a
president.” Vote for a visionary leader.

I will read it when it hits Front page.

Hmmmm

Truely there was a Country

Normal common sense economic cycle. But yhis one may last longer than necessary.

*Yawns*

thank God you said north Dakota oil being controlled by the locals. So you know very well that voting a so calledleaderisn't the solution but the SIMPLE solution is true federalism and nothing else. look I am happy this is happening iand I noticed it back in 2008 when Obama was doing his elections campaign

Eating popcorn while fliping pages.

Its still hard for the " see no evil,hear no evil" folks to believe that there is a conspiracy against Nigeria from rising to an economic world power. Look! the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy is an intelligent woman who with sincerity to purpose could transform Nigeria's economy in two years. So why isn't she doing so?
Its difficult also for some folks to think that a person could pledge allegiance to a cause stronger than the ties of religion, nationality and ethnicity. Yes! that person you trust so much could be working against you. Another conspiracy theorist I am, right?
How many years did it take ordinary Niger republic to have its own refinery? I remember there was a time Nigeria wanted to import refined products from them. A shameful thing.
I have always being an idealist and believe in the prospects on Nigeria's greatness. Oh yes! we have what it takes to be an economic world power. Africa has a huge market waiting on us to explore. As it stands, Nigerian has the wherewithal to liberate Africa from the western shackles. Little wonder Mandela the great was till his death, disappoint in Nigeria.
Any graduate of economics driven by purpose can turn this country around. Why? Nigeria is a land of milk and Honey. All around us are abundance of untapped opportunities. Oil, mineral resources, fertile land and rivers for agricultural and power generation.
@ op, without vision, the pple perish indeed. Even those mitigating the struggle for resource control fail to see the potential in their regions and the overall benefit of true federalism. To diversify Nigeria's economy is not a herculean task as we are made to believe .
I rest my case.