Zelafrica
  • Home
  • Business
  • Advertisement
  • Contact us
Monday, February 6, 2023
25 °c
Lagos
  • Home
  • ZELAfrica Radio
  • Editor Picks
  • News
  • Lifestyle
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • ZELAfrica Radio
  • Editor Picks
  • News
  • Lifestyle
No Result
View All Result
Zelafrica
No Result
View All Result

Nigeria after the Oil Age – Tony Ogunlowo

zela by zela
May 16, 2019
in Featured
0
Tony Ogunlowo – How about 3 Sitting Presidents for Nigeria?
0
SHARES
427
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

With the rest of the world beginning to turn its back on petroleum products in favour of sustainable renewable energy sources the demand for oil in the coming years will drop: the current price of crude oil stands at about $60 per barrel and analyst are predicting this will drop to about $15 per barrel in less than 20 years.
I don’t want to sound like a doom-monger but countries like Nigeria who depend on oil for 95% of their income will be in big trouble. Already the country can’t sustain itself on what it earns: external borrowing has gone up; capital projects have been abandoned for lack of funds; unemployment is sky rocketing and wide-spread corruption is still left to go unchecked.

If the country is on its knees now what will happen when the price of oil drops even further?
Any country in the world needs money to survive and plans rigorously for the future: wise countries like Saudi Arabia have, over the years, invested the surplus from their oil sales in non-oil ventures that will bring in a steady income for years to come. In Nigeria the surplus from oil sales has either been squandered or looted.
Nigeria would like to believe its secondary income will come from agriculture but in the absence of any large scale agricultural projects this is just a pipe dream that will never materialize. To make the country an agricultural giant like it was in the 50s and 60s will require a lot of investment and commitment. The wise thing to do would be to invite in foreign investors, but who would want to invest in a country that is plagued with instability, rampant for kidnappings and murders and corruption?

Nigeria might have one of the fastest growing GDPs in Africa but this is tagged to its income from oil production. Take away the oil and you’ll have one of the fastest shrinking economies in the world. The top policy makers would like to believe that the agricultural, mining and IT sectors are fast catching up and will eventually replace oil as Nigeria’s major earner. This is not so: there are no large viable agricultural projects; main mining projects have either been mothballed or are non-existent and the slowly booming IT sector is only surviving due to cash injections from foreign investors.
In his article ‘Is Nigeria the Next Haiti?’ Professor Pat Utomi points out that “…can we save our country from being like Haiti, the economy that did not change, and literally died ?..”. For those who don’t know Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The sad thing is that our politicians and policy makers are still living in denial: the Oil Age is over! The days of earning mega-bucks from barrels of oil is over. In the not too distant future we’ll be literally begging people to buy our oil for whatever price they’ll pay.
Conservationists have got the World’s attention on the ecological damage our dependence on oil is causing the Earth. As a result a lot of countries have strict anti-pollution policies in place which means people are buying more electric vehicles than petrol driven ones; most countries’ electric grids are powered by more cleaner green fuels such as wind, solar and sea waves. Even big multi-national oil companies like BP are investing heavily in research into the usage of more greener fuels. Man’s reliance on oil is coming to an end and countries depending on it as a sole income will need to look elsewhere – and fast.

Nigeria faces the same fate as Haiti unless change from dependence on oil as a major earner is implemented quickly. There are lots of countries in the world who have no oil and have managed to sustain themselves and prosper: South Korea has no oil and neither does Israel but they’ve become world leaders in specific non-oil industries. Closer to home African nations that have no oil are generating income for themselves by investing in agriculture, mining and tourism for example. The question is if we can’t run the country now, properly, with all the billions of dollars flowing in from oil sales how will the country be run when the demand plummets?
Let’s hope Nigeria doesn’t become another Haiti a country that died because it refused to change with a changing world. The writing is on the wall.

Follow Tony On Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk

Tags: AfricaCRUDE OILECONOMYHAITIISRAELNIGERIANON OIL INDUSTRIESOIL AGESOUTH KOREATRUTHUNEMPLOYMENT

Be the first to know about breaking news. We deliver news that matter directly to your email.

Unsubscribe
Previous Post

The Purpose Of Our Lives In This World - Tony Ogunlowo

Next Post

MH17 Crash, investigators say four suspects to face murder charges.

Next Post
MH17 Crash, investigators say four suspects to face murder charges.

MH17 Crash, investigators say four suspects to face murder charges.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow our IG Conversation

follow @zelafrica

  •  Lockdown UNICAL   s SUG President reportedly flogged because his friend wasn   t wearing a face mask
  • The Lagos State government says it is considering a full re-opening of the critical sectors of its economy   The state Governor  Babajide Sanwo-Olu  disclosed this today when he spoke at a briefing after the State   s Security Council meeting held at the State House in Marina   According to the governor  the State Government would be rolling out the Register-to-Open initiative as part of the plans that would enable it to assess the level of readiness of the players in the identified sectors for supervised operations   The governor said officials from the Lagos State Safety Commission  LSSC  and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency  LASEPA  will be visiting restaurants  companies  religious houses to assess their level of readiness   With the size of the State   s economy and numbers of businesses that operate in its domain  the Governor said the Government could not afford to keep people and businesses on lockdown permanently
  • Due to the COVID-19 pandemic   NaomiCampbell used her iPhone to take her own photos for  essence   Naomi   It was a very special honor and unusual experience for me to be able to shoot and style my own cover for Essence 50th Anniversary Issue on my iPhone   While it was a sad reminder for me of all the people in media and production who are not able to work due to the coronavirus  it also brought me hope and encouragement to know that our people and our infrastructures are resilient  We are rooted in knowledge and creativity and continue to take back full control of our narratives                   essence
  •  behappy
  • Rotimi Amaechi Reveals Why He Joined Politics   I didn   t join politics because I wanted to be a leader or because I wanted to solve Nigeria   s problems  I joined because of unemployment - Rotimi Amaechi   Minister of Transportation  Rotimi Amaechi   talks about his career  family and other issues in new interview with Punch   Read excerpts below   At what point did you develop an interest in politics   My father was a politician  He ran for councillorship during his time  However  I didn   t join politics because I wanted to be a leader or because I wanted to solve Nigeria   s problems  I joined because of unemployment  I also believe there is a part that grace played in it  I actually got auditioned at the Nigeria Television Authority to be a broadcaster   I recall that I walked into their office then and said I wanted to see a certain person  But the person I met asked me if I had been auditioned because I had a wonderful voice  I told him I hadn   t and he asked for me to be auditioned  However  before the employment letter came  I was already into politics  That saved me  I would have been a broadcaster by now   How did you meet your wife  It   s a funny story  We met at a friend   s wedding where she was the chief bridesmaid  We exchanged addresses but she gave me the wrong address  The address she gave me led me to a toilet in the university  I forgot about her until I ran into her one day in the estate where I lived in Port Harcourt  We actually lived on the same street but I didn   t know  By then  I was a special assistant to the governor of Rivers State  We began to interact and one thing led to another  today  we are man and wife   What were the qualities that attracted you to your wife   My wife is very pretty  extremely beautiful  She is also entrepreneurial  I needed a wife that I would be heavily dependent on  And till now  I   m still heavily dependent on her    financially and in other ways  Whenever I   m broke  she usually bails me out because she is always buying and selling things  I even joke with her that I hope that someday I wouldn   t return home and find that she had sold our children  laughs
  • Madagascar Records First Coronavirus Death   Madagascar on Sunday reported the first death of a patient suffering from novel coronavirus nearly two months after it was first detected in the country  official statistics showed   The Indian ocean island which has reported 304 cases has hit the headlines over a home-grown herbal concoction that President Andry Rajoelina claims can cure people infected with the virus   Several African countries have ordered or expressed interest in the purported remedy  which is known as Covid-Organics   The tonic drink is derived from artemisia     a plant with proven efficacy in malaria treatment     and other indigenous herbs   But the World Health Organization has warned against    adopting a product that has not been taken through tests to see its efficacy     Cc GuardianNg

Join our twitter conversation

Zelafrica

Copyright © 2018 Zelafrica Media. All Rights Reserved.
Digital Partner Sulify

Navigate ZelAfrica Site Seamlessly

  • Terms of Use
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • ZELAfrica Radio
  • Editor Picks
  • News
  • Lifestyle

Copyright © 2018 Zelafrica Media. All Rights Reserved.
Digital Partner Sulify

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In