When oil was discovered in Nigeria, most people in the country thought that it was the best thing that had happened to the country other than gaining its political independence. After several coups, a civil war, falling world oil prices, and other forms of instability, not everyone is still sure that the exploitation of the country's crude oil reserves was a total blessing. This research examines this issue.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN NIGERIA
Nigeria is, in many ways, a unique country within the context of political development. The country emerged from colonial status in the post World War II era with a greater reservoir of administrative and political expertise than was to be found in most of the other newly emerging independent countries. Yet, within seven years of independence, the country was plunged into civil war, which was followed by a series of military governments, assassinations, and changes in governmental form (Paxton 930-932). Following twelve years of turmoil, a freely elected civilian government returned to power in 1979. Internal political instability, however, has continued to plague the country.
In the midst of the political turmoil, development of the country's petroleum resources established Nigeria as a world leader in crude oil production and export. The state owned Nigerian National Oil Company was formed to manage petroleum resource development. Although the company is semi autonomous, it operates under close scrutiny of government ministries, and Nigerian governments have used the petroleum resource as an instrument of foreign policy, at times (Olorumfemi 24-27).
Nigeria has relied on crude oil export earnings to support its domestic development. Due in large part to these earnings, the country experienced an average annual growth rate of 3.7 percent in per capita GNP from 1960 through 1981 (The World Bank 139). For the 1976 1981 time period average ann...