Nigeria has a smaller national budget than Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and South Africa. All these countries have fewer citizens, yet significantly more money to spend on them. While Nigeria’s 2019 budget amounts to $29 billion, South Africa, with a population almost 4 times smaller, will spend $130 billion. Egypt has a $90 billion budget with 100 million people.

Elsewhere, countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam have larger budgets than Nigeria. No one considers these nations “rich”. Yet, among Nigerians, there persists a stubborn myth that Nigeria is a wealthy country. Who planted this idea and why does it survive?
It started with Nigeria’s 1950s pro-independence leaders who needed to mobilize popular opinion against colonialism to push the British out. So, they regularly emphasized Nigeria possessed abundant economic resources being carted away by the British. “Help us drive them out and we will use these vast resources to transform your lives”, was their essential message.

Many Nigerians believed these often exaggerated claims of abundant wealth awaiting distribution and duly mobilized for independence. By 1960, then Governor-General Nnamdi Azikiwe was constructing national pride on the idea that thanks to her resources and population size, Nigeria was already an “African power.” And this was before crude-oil exports really took off in the mid-1960s. By the 1970s, General Yakubu Gowon was telling Nigerians their country’s problem was not money, but “how to spend it”.
Whatever Gowon’s intentions, his words were interpreted by many Nigerians to mean theirs was a rich country, period. Over 20 years later, during my secondary school days, we would often recall Gowon’s famous statement. Anytime someone brought it up, we would all laugh with some delight. It made us feel like part of an exclusive members-only club; the club of rich nations. Sorry, no poor countries allowed.
It also gave us a sense of hope and relief because it meant that all the problems we observed around us – no water, no light, new slums everyday – these were all easily solvable. Nigeria had the money to make all these disappear fast. The minute an honest government took over, it would be farewell problems, hello prosperity. There is great comfort in believing solutions to your problems are within arm’s reach. That all it takes is for X to happen. That’s why demagogues and charlatans will always have followers.

The first time someone challenged my belief I was from a rich country I became agitated. It was a girlfriend of mine who wasn’t Nigerian, one of those annoying types who know things they have no business knowing. I mentioned Nigeria was rich. “No, it isn’t. I checked. It has a smaller economy than some countries with just 5-10 million people like Sweden or Norway and a lower GDP per capita than the likes of Albania, Guatemala or Mongolia which are all considered poor countries,” she retorted. I struggled to contain my anger. What kind of rubbish was this girl telling me? That my entire national self-concept was wrong? Impossible!

I think many Nigerians are still psychologically reluctant to accept Nigeria’s true position in the global pecking order today. Our sense of national self is largely built around the notion that we are a country very rich in natural and human resources, just one good government away from greatness. Some optic illusions further render this belief hard to shake.
In every state, there are a few dozen people (usually involved in politics) who possess such visibly stupendous wealth, we can be forgiven for assuming there is a lot more where that came from. Thing is, there isn’t. If you shared Nigeria’s 8.83 trillion naira national budget equally among Nigerians, each citizen would receive a paltry 45,000 naira or so; hardly enough to keep you in Panadol for the year.

Of course, states have budgets too, but even Lagos, by far Nigeria’s richest city, has a modest 852 billion naira ($2.4 billion) to spend on 15 to 20 million residents this year. For comparison, Johannesburg has double that budget for fewer than 5 million people. And it still struggles to provide basic social services. What we have in Nigeria is a few hundred people looting and squandering such a disproportionate amount of Nigeria’s modest resources that an illusion of plenty is sustained among the populace.

Another factor fuelling this “there is money in Nigeria” belief is that many people pretend to have more of it than they actually do. My friend who runs a crèche in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Lagos says she has lost count of the number of parents who drive the most expensive Range Rovers yet struggle to pay their children’s nursery fees on time. Of course, aspirational Nigerians don’t live above their means just because, they do so in response to societal pressure for them to prove they are “somebodies”; worth talking business to, hanging out with and treating respectfully. Raise your hand if you have ever pretended to have more money than you really do so as to be treated respectfully somewhere in Nigeria (my hand is raised high).

But the end result is that when you combine the authentic and visible wealth of a few hundred Nigerians living off the state with the lifestyles of all those trying hard to appear rich, the rest of society can be forgiven for believing there must be a lot of money in Nigeria.
This is bad because it encourages many intelligent people to focus not on thinking of how to create wealth, but on how to corner their own “share” of this fabulous national cake. Either by getting into government or by winning a government contract and then behaving as though the pockets of the state are bottomless.

Another consequence of this illusion is that it diminishes the sense of urgency required to tackle the existential threats Nigeria faces, ranging from mass poverty and unemployment to uncontrolled population growth and growing insecurity. At the back of many minds seems to be the implicit assumption one needn’t worry too much. Things will sort themselves out. There is money in Nigeria.

But Nigeria is not rich. And with its rapidly-expanding population leading to ever scarcer resources, *only a furious national focus on wealth-creation can save the country.* The Nigerian state, currently viewed by many as a fat cash-cow, is actually a very skinny cow in desperate need of some serious grass in order to stay alive. Else, one day, it will simply stop breathing.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA!!!

#Copied

Someone should summarize abeg

Good article...

Just want to add some points

1.Saying that Nigeria is not a rich nation is rejected by most Nigerians because it gives our leaders past and present an excuse for bad performance (Note...I have made the same argument that the OP has made, but people will accuse me of being a government agent).

Yes, we should not excuse bad leadership, but at the same time we should not pretend that things are better than they really are.

2.Also, many Nigerians believe that we should be a 'welfare state', an idea brokered by people like Awolowo, and company, without any idea as to how we should fund the welfare state (For example, it has been a fact since 1990 that we don't have enough money to spend on fuel subsidy, but most Nigerians consider this a lie).

3.Finally, many Nigerians think that our economy should be run on the principle of

a) We export raw materials
b) We import finished goods and sell them.

The fact is, because exporting raw materials does not rely on light and water being regular....we don't have light and water flowing regularly...and as a result, we cannot go industrial...which means zero prosperity.

Meanwhile, South Africa and Egypt have industries (and Egypt has an over- vibrant tourisim sector..after all everyone must see the Pyramids once in our lifetimes....and the Egyptians charge an entry fee!)...which earns them lots of money.

I should add though, that our pre-independence leaders were right....we do have abundant natural resources.

The problem is what we do with them. Most Nigerians think we should export them and share the revenue among ourselves. And that includes the restructure Nigeria people and the secessionists.

Whereas the right idea would be to use these resources to fuel our industrial development.

Bedwyr:
Good article...

Just want to add some points

1.Saying that Nigeria is not a rich nation is rejected by most Nigerians because it gives our leaders past and present an excuse for bad performance (Note...I have made the same argument that the OP has made, but people will accuse me of being a government agent).

Yes, we should not excuse bad leadership, but at the same time we should not pretend that things are better than they really are.

2.Also, many Nigerians believe that we should be a 'welfare state', an idea brokered by people like Awolowo, and company, without any idea as to how we should fund the welfare state (For example, it has been a fact since 1990 that we don't have enough money to spend on fuel subsidy, but most Nigerians consider this a lie).

3.Finally, many Nigerians think that our economy should be run on the principle of

a) We export raw materials
b) We import finished goods and sell them.

The fact is, because exporting raw materials does not rely on light and water being regular....we don't have light and water flowing regularly...and as a result, we cannot go industrial...which means zero prosperity.

Meanwhile, South Africa and Egypt have industries (and Egypt has an over- vibrant tourisim sector..after all everyone must see the Pyramids once in our lifetimes....and the Egyptians charge an entry fee!)...which earns them lots of money.

God bless you bro. What always catch my attention is the mystery of our Cocoa poverty and pound foolish but penny wise. How do you explain that Switzerland and Belgium make hundreds of millions of dollars monthly selling by products of cocoa (like Milo beverage drinks and chocolate bars etc respectively) only for you to realize that we only make tens of millions of dollars annually selling the raw cocoa itself to these countries like confused blokes when nothing stops us from having our own Milo beverage drinks and chocolate bars.

tomakint:
Nigeria has a smaller national budget than Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and South Africa. All these countries have fewer citizens, yet significantly more money to spend on them. While Nigeria’s 2019 budget amounts to $29 billion, South Africa, with a population almost 4 times smaller, will spend $130 billion. Egypt has a $90 billion budget with 100 million people.

u don't compare countries economy with their budgets, and if u do, u have to compare their purchasing power parity (ppp). cost of goods and services vary across d globe, what u buy with $10 in Nigeria may be gotten at $50 in another country, so there's no basis for comparison here without its adjoining purchasing power of currencies in both countries.

Elsewhere, countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam have larger budgets than Nigeria. No one considers these nations “rich”. Yet, among Nigerians, there persists a stubborn myth that Nigeria is a wealthy country. Who planted this idea and why does it survive?
It started with Nigeria’s 1950s pro-independence leaders who needed to mobilize popular opinion against colonialism to push the British out. So, they regularly emphasized Nigeria possessed abundant economic resources being carted away by the British. “Help us drive them out and we will use these vast resources to transform your lives”, was their essential message.

those countries u highlighted may not be highly undustrialised nations but they're undoubtedly not poor. Nigeria is a lower-middle income country, not poor and surely not rich. And yes, Nigeria possesses abundant economic resources that are still untapped, just laying unused.

Many Nigerians believed these often exaggerated claims of abundant wealth awaiting distribution and duly mobilized for independence. By 1960, then Governor-General Nnamdi Azikiwe was constructing national pride on the idea that thanks to her resources and population size, Nigeria was already an “African power.” And this was before crude-oil exports really took off in the mid-1960s. By the 1970s, General Yakubu Gowon was telling Nigerians their country’s problem was not money, but “how to spend it”.
Whatever Gowon’s intentions, his words were interpreted by many Nigerians to mean theirs was a rich country, period. Over 20 years later, during my secondary school days, we would often recall Gowon’s famous statement. Anytime someone brought it up, we would all laugh with some delight. It made us feel like part of an exclusive members-only club; the club of rich nations. Sorry, no poor countries allowed.
It also gave us a sense of hope and relief because it meant that all the problems we observed around us – no water, no light, new slums everyday – these were all easily solvable. Nigeria had the money to make all these disappear fast. The minute an honest government took over, it would be farewell problems, hello prosperity. There is great comfort in believing solutions to your problems are within arm’s reach. That all it takes is for X to happen. That’s why demagogues and charlatans will always have followers.

yes, Nigeria had vast resources that we thought would transform the country, but unfortunately, mineral resources alone, without its accompanying human resources don't build nations, Our wealth was stumbled upon and its sustainability was shattered when we don't know what we could do with it, instead of building infrastuctures for future generations, expand our economic sectors and massively invest in human development, we decided to build Ajaokuta steel complex ( which is not a bad idea, but a bad idea when no one had any idea on how to run it till date! ) we built the deterioriating festac out of nothing to host Festac 77, we paid politicians mouth watering salaries, over paid civil workers, corruption was at its apex... and we squandered those resources in an unexplainable manner.

The first time someone challenged my belief I was from a rich country I became agitated. It was a girlfriend of mine who wasn’t Nigerian, one of those annoying types who know things they have no business knowing. I mentioned Nigeria was rich. “No, it isn’t. I checked. It has a smaller economy than some countries with just 5-10 million people like Sweden or Norway and a lower GDP per capita than the likes of Albania, Guatemala or Mongolia which are all considered poor countries,” she retorted. I struggled to contain my anger. What kind of rubbish was this girl telling me? That my entire national self-concept was wrong? Impossible!

now this is d mistake most Nigerians make, always comparing Nigeria with developed nations while Nigeria itself is a developing nation, comparing Nigeria with the likes of Sweden is actually not a bad omen but when u want everything in sweden in Nigeria without their struggle and history ( sweden was founded in the 12th century, thousands of years before Nigeria was formed), then u're doomed to give urself unneccessary worries... it took many developed nations thousands of years to be where they are today but u want urs in just 60years, though Nigeria's rate of development is faster than theirs in their time of development.

I think many Nigerians are still psychologically reluctant to accept Nigeria’s true position in the global pecking order today. Our sense of national self is largely built around the notion that we are a country very rich in natural and human resources, just one good government away from greatness. Some optic illusions further render this belief hard to shake.
In every state, there are a few dozen people (usually involved in politics) who possess such visibly stupendous wealth, we can be forgiven for assuming there is a lot more where that came from. Thing is, there isn’t. If you shared Nigeria’s 8.83 trillion naira national budget equally among Nigerians, each citizen would receive a paltry 45,000 naira or so; hardly enough to keep you in Panadol for the year.

entitlement mentality at its peak! Even social countries don't think like this.

Of course, states have budgets too, but even Lagos, by far Nigeria’s richest city, has a modest 852 billion naira ($2.4 billion) to spend on 15 to 20 million residents this year. For comparison, Johannesburg has double that budget for fewer than 5 million people. And it still struggles to provide basic social services. What we have in Nigeria is a few hundred people looting and squandering such a disproportionate amount of Nigeria’s modest resources that an illusion of plenty is sustained among the populace.

resort to my first response.

Another factor fuelling this “there is money in Nigeria” belief is that many people pretend to have more of it than they actually do. My friend who runs a crèche in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Lagos says she has lost count of the number of parents who drive the most expensive Range Rovers yet struggle to pay their children’s nursery fees on time. Of course, aspirational Nigerians don’t live above their means just because, they do so in response to societal pressure for them to prove they are “somebodies”; worth talking business to, hanging out with and treating respectfully. Raise your hand if you have ever pretended to have more money than you really do so as to be treated respectfully somewhere in Nigeria (my hand is raised high).
But the end result is that when you combine the authentic and visible wealth of a few hundred Nigerians living off the state with the lifestyles of all those trying hard to appear rich, the rest of society can be forgiven for believing there must be a lot of money in Nigeria.
This is bad because it encourages many intelligent people to focus not on thinking of how to create wealth, but on how to corner their own “share” of this fabulous national cake. Either by getting into government or by winning a government contract and then behaving as though the pockets of the state are bottomless.

Another consequence of this illusion is that it diminishes the sense of urgency required to tackle the existential threats Nigeria faces, ranging from mass poverty and unemployment to uncontrolled population growth and growing insecurity. At the back of many minds seems to be the implicit assumption one needn’t worry too much. Things will sort themselves out. There is money in Nigeria.

that's people with inferiority complex problem.

But Nigeria is not rich. And with its rapidly-expanding population leading to ever scarcer resources, *only a furious national focus on wealth-creation can save the country.* The Nigerian state, currently viewed by many as a fat cash-cow, is actually a very skinny cow in desperate need of some serious grass in order to stay alive. Else, one day, it will simply stop breathing.

yeah, Nigeria is not rich. What Nigeria really needs now is to expand its economic base, we need to have more than 10 solid sectors firing all cylinders, i mean sectors that can employ a lot of people, instead of oil being d mainstay of our economy, build infrastructures from revenues from oil while building other sectors, invest in technical education, cut senators wage.... and we'll be alright.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA!!!

yeah, God bless Nigeria.

#Copied

ok.

I have written a similar thing on this forum before, Nigeria's problems are:

1. Low revenue

2. Corruption

3. Infrastructure


4. Disunity - in that order.

We need industrial revolution to create wealth, we can't just be selling raw materials, import everything and be comparing our poverty data with that of India that is highly industrialized!!!