This “curse”— Oil Money, is the grease that runs corruption in Nigeria; and corruption has turned Nigeria on its Head. The Nigerian economy and annual national budget are from top to bottom tied to, and entirely dependent on world oil price than national productivity— oil money has brought laziness in the larger Nigerian society. Oil gave Nigeria easy money, but the country and its leaders simply became overwhelmed and missed opportunities to utilized oil money to developed Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria had messed up of opportunities to wisely used earnings of oil boom of the 70’s, and since then, the country’s socio-economic development has been limping— the complete neglect of agriculture, which was hitherto the main source of revenue for Nigeria, and other mineral resources and human capital that could contribute to national development suffer neglect, in the end— poor creativity in revenue-generation at federal, states and local government levels, degradation of the environment, corruption within the political class, uncontrolled spending spree by government, stunted growth in industrialization, distortion of Nigeria’s federal system, and, being in government and venturing into politics has become the only avenue to acquire wealth.  Because of the easy money oil provides, it has become a “curse” to Nigerian leaders, it has marred, confused and turned Nigerian leaders into wasteful spenders, it has turned men that society trust into leaders that suddenly lost both political and moral authority. Would the servant leader— President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua escape the dangers of oil money? Taking history a mirror, many people will be tempted to say ‘No’, but perhaps, the best answer is ‘Yes’.

But why is this failure to make use of oil money to develop Nigeria persisted? Is Yar’Adua the man who will reverse the trend? Or is it a “curse” that Nigeria and Nigerians have to live with, and life goes on? Optimists will certainly nod their heads as answer to the second question, while pessimists will for sure dismiss such a thought with a web of hand. However, wherever One’s view falls, there is a middle-line approach— an approach that has to encompass new thinking, new strategy, new concept map and perhaps new hands.   

Despite the fact that his election is being challenge in the Court of law. For now, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has all the opportunities in this world, to reroute the course Nigeria’s development is being planned and executed.  For President Yar’Adua to succeed, he has to divert away from the usual way most governments in sub-Saharan African countries tackled developmental issues— where macro economic policies outweigh micro economic policies that would touch the lives of youths and rural dwellers who constitute the greater percentage of the population. For instance, Nigeria’s development plans, and policy formulations, has for a long time been hijacked by a crop of ‘internationally-trained’ consultants and technocrats, who have little or no knowledge of realities on ground, but have continue administer to Nigeria reframed, relabeled and renamed same old-voluminous rhetoric economic-pills, which was unsuccessful in placing rice and beans on the tables of common people; bring prosperity to them or help in discovery the missing keys of the door to the room of treasures and meaningful living. This is not an attempt at given no credit to the efforts of these consultants and technocrats, or in anyway suggesting that their method and policies has failed woefully; and also, admit that, we, most of the times, criticize government polices, but we fail to proffer best alternative solutions, or we praise government policies but ignore pinpointing its gray areas. As earlier mentioned, Nigeria has to embrace a whole new strategy that would concentrates on the development of human capital, and gradually diversifies the Nigerian economy, so that it will not completely and entirely depend on oil money, and at the same time, use oil money for future prosperity. This can be done using those things that most policy formulators see as ‘small things’— farmhouses, inventions and innovation, Information technology, sports, music and movie industries and small-scale manufacturing industries.

Nigeria could have been an exporter of agricultural products if the country had continued on the path of revamping of the agricultural sector. However, the country have not run out of time; President Yar’Adua should introduce massive government intervention in the agricultural sector, where government should support farmers to have access to agricultural loans, agricultural implements and easy access to lands for mechanized farming. As part of government intervention in the agricultural sector, youths agricultural scheme should be introduce, where government in partnership with private sector should established farmhouses and lease them as loans to young Nigerian graduates who have entrepreneurial interest in farming.

Sport, music and film industries in Nigeria, are emerging promising avenues that government can use to create jobs and generate wealth, by hunting out top quality talented artists, assist them to have world–class training. Government should established or assist private entrepreneurs to establish well-equipped Record companies, film studios, sport development enterprises and remove every obstacle that hampers the flourishing of these industries. 

I.T and software are today major sources of foreign exchange for most emerging economies. India is leveraging from it massive investment in I.T and software development. Nigeria has the human capital to be major exporters of I.T professionals. Yar’Adua government can use the Indo-Nigerian relation and obtain the experience on how India achieved such a feat in information technology and invention and innovations in software technology. 

Asian products, such as razor blades, pine needle, envelopes, keys and padlocks, toys, shoelaces, safety matches umbrellas, doormats, Office Square clips, treasury tags etc have found market in Nigeria. Most of these items are produced by small industries that required small amount of capital to be set up; and some of these industries are owned and run by a family of two or three in Shanghai, Taipei, Manila or Bombay. President Yar’Adua and his ‘new thinkers’ should ensure that the Nigerian small-scale industry micro loans schemes that never reached their intended beneficiaries, to start being accessed by its primary targets.

However, the current Nigerian leadership should have it their minds, that no new approach can leapfrog Nigeria in the ladder of development, except far-reaching measures are taken in the education sector and infrastructure development. Nigeria needs Mikhail Gorbachev 1985 styled former Soviet reform— ‘glasnost’ and ‘perestroika’ (liberalization, opening up) and (restructuring) in her education and infrastructures. The current situation where government is the provider, administer, monitor and assessor of fund utilization is one of major causes of lapses in the Nigerian education sector; there should be a ‘regulated’ public private partnership, where government should built new schools, equipped old ones, then take a benchmark from a well-run private school on what it cost per student head in running a school; then a gradual entrusting of managing public schools to private sector, where government provides the fund while the private sector manage it and other stakeholders monitor it workings. Restructuring of Nigerian infrastructure development practice is another key requirement— government should encourage public private partnership in roads constructions and maintenance; with this government would get relief from the burden of ‘ carrying the camel and its loads’.

The world has changed, the business of governance has changed, the global economy is on fast track; thus, Nigeria cannot afford to wait for the new power plants under construct, Power-Generating-Barges have to come to Nigeria’s shore and powered the country — with these and his stance to adherence of rule of law and due process, President Yar’Adua is close to firing the silver bullet that will kill poverty and free Nigeria and Nigerian leaders from the prison of ‘oil money’.

Zayyad I. Muhammad Wrote from Jimeta, Adamawa state.

zaymohd@yahoo.com