THE DUTCH DISEASE EFFECT IN NIGERIA OIL PRODUCTION

 

Before the oil boom phase, the early 1970s government relied heavily on agricultural earnings. Cotton Groundnut, Lumber, cocoa, palm oil, hides, and skins were among the many agricultural goods exported by Nigeria employed in a wide range of industrial processes both locally and abroad. Nigeria's agriculture sector formerly employed more than 70 percent of the population (Ugochukwu & Ertel, 2008) and was the Nation's leading exporter of Palm oil (PIND, 2011). The agricultural sector was largely replaced with the oil boom as capital inflow sky-rocketed. Oil accounts for around 80% of the government's income and 95% of export revenues in recent years (Junior, 2015). Oil money has had a detrimental impact upon Nigeria's economy because of a lack of investment in a better standard of living, education, and other sectors of the economy. Corruption and oil policy execution have contributed to Nigeria's worsening administrative status despite the country's substantial oil revenues. As the oil riches weren't invested in the agricultural or industrial sectors, it has lured resources away from those sectors. This kind of negligence of other sectors is a clear case of what is known to be the "Dutch disease," which is evidence of a resource curse.

UNFORTUNATELY DUTCH DISEASE EFFECT IS CRIPPLING NIGERIA ECONOMY