LEVERAGING NATURAL RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM NIGERIA’S RESOURCE CURSE

Abstract

This study critically investigates the persistent failure of Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, to leverage its vast natural resource wealth for sustainable development, a phenomenon starkly characterized as the “resource curse.” Despite decades of substantial oil revenue, the country contends with severe multidimensional poverty, economic volatility, and institutional decay. The research employs a robust qualitative methodology, integrating descriptive, conceptual, and relational analysis of secondary data to deconstruct the underlying mechanisms of this paradox. It argues that the curse is not an economic inevitability but a governance failure, manifesting through the Dutch Disease effect that cripples non-oil sectors, rampant rent-seeking behavior, and profound corruption that diverts resource rents from public good. The analysis establishes that these economic distortions are compounded by weak institutions, lack of transparency, and ineffective environmental management, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of underdevelopment. Consequently, the study concludes that transcending the curse necessitates a fundamental institutional and policy overhaul. It proposes a precise, multi-actor reform framework: the central government must institutionalize fiscal discipline via sovereign wealth funds and independent oversight; local governments must adopt participatory budgeting to ensure derivation funds directly improve local welfare; extractive firms must be legally bound to environmental and social investments; and civil society must be empowered as vigilant watchdogs. This coordinated approach is imperative to transform Nigeria's resource wealth from a curse into a catalyst for inclusive and sustainable development.