were hooked on oil and the nation‘s
economy was hooked on oil.
The oil boom accelerated the migration
of Nigerians from villages to towns and
cities as people opted for big salaries in
booming coastal ports or government
centers. Population increased rapidly,
growing at about 3% a year. At a time,
the government was forced to hold
food prices down to quiet city dwellers.
As majority of Nigeria‘s farmers were
smallholders and families, there was
little incentive for farmers to produce
or market their crops. Between 1972
and 1980, food production per head fell
by approximately 35-50%. Food
imports rose 250% and farming for
exports – the traditional mainstay of
the economy – virtually died.
In that period, petroleum accounted for
an increasing proportion of exports,
increasing from 13 percent in 1955 to
35 percent in 1965, to 93 percent in
1975, and then to 96 percent in 1985.
The net result is an economy highly
dependent on oil and a few other
export commodities, an economy
particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in
world crude oil prices.
This situation has not gone unnoticed
by government policy makers,
stakeholders and observers. Since the
mid-seventies to the present day,
efforts to increase agricultural
production and stimulate activity in
other sectors (mining, manufacturing,
craft, etc) in Nigeria have gulped
billions of dollars from government and
international donors, yet with very little
results to show for it.
In the words of Frances Hill
(Experiments with a Public Sector
Peasantry: Agricultural Schemes and
Class Formation in Africa, published
1977), ―the African landscape is littered
with the remnants of failed agricultural
schemes. Agricultural schemes are
commonly overcapitalized, under-
planned and poorly managed. Even at
their high cost, the settlements neither
increased agricultural production nor
reduced urban unemployment.‖ This is
exactly the case with Nigeria.
The story of the Nigerian
economy is one of
contradictions.
In recent years, the economy has
recorded high growth, going on to
become the largest economy in Africa.
After a brief period of recession, the
country is reportedly back on the path
of growth; fragile growth, it has to be
noted. Yet, unemployment remains
stubbornly high and while poverty has
reduced slightly, Nigeria has recently
overtaken India to gain the unwanted