The Political Economy of Crude Oil Exploration and the Socioeconomic Development in Nigeria

• In Event: 286 - Section on Sociology of Development Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Paper Session: Table 04. Trade, Investment and Commodities

Abstract

For the past four decades, since the discovery of Oil in a small Niger-delta village called Oloibiri, crude Oil has been a major financial revenue source to the Nigerian state. Against this background, this paper analyses the relationship between the exorbitant crude oil revenue earned by Nigerian government, its respective natural governance and hopefully state why the wealth is not translating into sustainable socioeconomic development. The focal aim of this research is to address the issues of socio-economic underdevelopment in Nigeria, amidst the paradox of oil wealth generated by the Nigerian state. David Jaffee’s societal level of developmental analysis will be used to test against Nigeria’s performance, to fully embrace the complexities of the country’s developmental problems. The relationship between Nigeria’s crude oil revenue and the developmental performance of the country will be explored based on the World Bank developmental measures. However, development in this study will be measured using four universal developmental indicators namely: life expectancy, secondary school enrollment, GDP per capita, and infant mortality; which were gotten from the World Bank data set on Nigeria.

Author

• Onyekachi Nnamdi Nwoke, Mount Royal University