Abstract
Nigeria is one of the world's petroleum regions, endowed with an abundance of natural resources necessary for the nation's development. There should be an effective utilization of the resources for the greater good of the country. Each Government endowed with petroleum resources should take action to ensure that those resources are transformed for the benefit of its citizens. The article, reviewing the resource curse theory and scholarship, argues that Nigeria's Niger Delta has significant petroleum resources, but these resources have not been harnessed efficiently for the effective growth of the nation. This has had a considerable impact on the regional distribution of economic advantages, creating a case of the paradox of plenty. It demonstrated the resource curse syndrome in Nigeria and the effort to address the situation. The article presents a proposal on how Nigeria should use and manage its petroleum resources through proactive measures aimed at addressing the resource curse. Keywords: Resource curse; Petroleum resources; Dutch diseases; Niger Delta DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/79-04 Publication date: October 31 st 2021
Highlights
There are a series of political and economic challenges that have bedevilled Nigeria because of its oil-centric economy (Ariweriokuma, 2008)
The economic well-being of the people of the Niger Delta has been adversely affected by the exploitation of petroleum resources in the region (Okonta and Oronto, 2001)
Natural resources' curse falls within the discourse in the realm of political economy (Ko, 2014)
Summary
There are a series of political and economic challenges that have bedevilled Nigeria because of its oil-centric economy (Ariweriokuma, 2008). Most of the initiatives on the governance of natural resources call for nations to utilize economic development in their resources through the development of international mechanisms that promote transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector Good examples of such are the Natural Resources Charter, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Generally Accepted Standards on Management of Sovereign Wealth Funds, and the Santiago Principles. Where investors are not guaranteed the needed safety in the region owing to the crises that have been occasioned by the failure of the current governments to better the lives of the people of the Niger Delta, it has become a challenge that should be grappled within the country Besides this development, there is another potential in other African countries that are being endowed with hydrocarbon resources.
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