Nigeria Is Resource Rich But Economically Poor!

By Nick Agule

The United States is budgeting $1.5 trillion for its military alone.

Nigeria, by contrast, budgets roughly $40 billion for the entire country for all sectors!

Out of that $40 billion, only about $3.5 billion is allocated to defence. Yet, Nigeria and the US are buying missiles and other military hardware from the same market! When corruption is added to the equation, it becomes clear why the fight against insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria has been prolonged and so difficult.

Between the US and Nigeria, in relative terms, it is like one person going to the arms market with N1.5 million while another goes with N3,500.

Nigeria is an extremely poor country.

Until the government shifts its focus away from an excessive fixation with taxation and deliberately builds a strong, productive economy – rooted in agriculture, manufacturing, technology, energy, and other value-creating sectors – we will continue to live on unfulfilled hopes of a better tomorrow.

To start with, no modern industrial nation supplies just 5,000 megawatts of grid power to a population of over 200 million and hopes to thrive! An economy under such conditions is effectively comatose.

Unless we are honest with ourselves about this basic truth about our poverty, we will keep indulging in self-praise even as the country fails to make real progress.

Nick Agule is a Nigerian citizen and a public affairs analyst.