Is Crude Oil, a curse or a blessing to Nigeria?

In respect of food, the nation was self-sufficient before crude oil was discovered and agriculture provided sufficient food needed to feed Nigerians, employed the majority of the Nigerian population, and contributed about 64.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Oluwasanmi1960: 23-29). Hardly was their unemployment in Nigeria during this period, as both the young and old people were engaged in one farming activity or another, and even those that fancy white-collar jobs, often make out time to visit their farms on weekends or when they are on leave. This generated multiple streams of income, thereby increasing their standard of living.


As part of Government efforts back then to provide social responsibility, agriculture was well inculcated into the lives of the young ones. For example, schools at all levels acted as government agents to facilitate this social practice. Every school had its farm in which all pupils/students were thought how to farm free of charge. The result of such practice back then was the building of individuals who will go on to become self-sufficient in society.

However, Nigeria’s agricultural honeymoon took a different turn when crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity at Oloibiri, now in Bayelsa State in January 1956, by Shell BP. Whenever crude oil is mentioned as one of our natural resources, the reactions from Nigerians are always perplexed because Nigerians do not know whether crude oil was a curse or a blessing to them. Of course, every mineral underneath the crust of a country is always a blessing because the minerals ought to be used to better the lives of its citizens as it’s the case with oil-producing countries like Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Kuwait, USA, etc. except for Nigeria that has abundant crude oil deposit like the aforementioned nations above but nothing to show for since its first discovery in commercial quantity.

https://www.nairaland.com/6687522/how-nigerias-economy-grow-after