SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA.
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SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA.
Chapter one
1.1 Introduction
Natural resources provide a crucial material foundation for a stable national economy and societal development. They can be classified into two types: exhaustible (minerals) and inexhaustible (forests and grasslands).
With industrialization and urbanisation, mankind’s high demand for natural resources, as well as their widespread exploitation and use, has resulted in their deterioration, exhaustion, and depletion.
All governments have the tough issue of ensuring the long-term use of natural resources at the lowest feasible environmental cost while maintaining economic and social progress.
The term “sustainable development” became the buzzword of the 1990s. It has been widely accepted as the guiding principle of development by national and international leaders, industrial organisations, academics, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the media, and environmental consultants.
However, there is a significant gap in translating sustainable development from an abstract aim to how it may be implemented and realised in the complicated realm of real-world challenges and situations, particularly in a developing country like Nigeria.
Sustainable development entails addressing current requirements without jeopardising future generations’ ability to meet those needs. In a nutshell, sustainable development is a road map that directs us on our path to becoming an important part of the answer to the environmental difficulties we face.
The expansion of oil operations has undoubtedly resulted in extraordinary rates of economic growth and development in most countries around the world.
The industry has produced the necessary oil to power factories, run vehicles, ships, aircraft, and railways, to heat and light homes and offices, to lubricate machinery, and to provide bitumen to surface roads.
It also produces hundreds of chemicals that are useful in agricultural production, industrial activities, and the production of a large number of foods that are required on a daily basis.
Not only is oil necessary for modern living, but it is also profoundly embedded in the heart of politics and the particular interests of a few strong individuals.
According to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), oil is more than just a commodity; it is “a strategic asset.” Oil has been used as political leverage between nations via embargoes and sanctions.
Furthermore, terrorist strikes on oil wells, refineries, and ships have frequently resulted in catastrophic environmental consequences.
According to historical records, plundering African natural resources fueled Europe’s industrial revolution. Energy demands in the twentieth century prompted the search for crude oil wells around the world, including Nigeria.
Since 1956, when the first oil well in Nigeria was successfully sunk, the Europeans’ scramble for Nigeria’s resources has taken on a new dimension.
The agricultural industry suffered greatly during the 1970s oil boom. There was a total paradigm shift from the country’s then-agrarian culture to an oil-driven culture, eventually transitioning from renewable natural resources to nonrenewable resource trading.
From the 1970s to the early 1980s, we saw a significant reduction in local food production. Food and completed product imports skyrocketed, and our foreign debt ballooned, plunging the country into a crisis. Between 1958 and 1983, we documented $101 billion in anticipated oil income revenues.
In a country where agriculture accounts for over 40% of GDP and oil production and exports (exporting more than 2 million barrels per day) rank sixth globally, the government’s management structure and environmental action plan are critical to maintaining balance and reducing misuse. What role has the Nigerian government had in managing the country’s natural resources?
To try an explanation, one may argue that, while the legal framework and institutional structure for natural resource management are well established, they nevertheless lack the vigour and drive that natural resource management requires.
The management structure is, at best, fragmentary, and there are similar government entities performing the same responsibilities, which frequently leads to conflict between government agencies and stakeholders.
Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 in Olobiri in the Niger Delta, after a half-century of exploration. Shell-BP, which was the sole concessionaire at the time, made the finding.
Nigeria joined the ranks of oil producers in 1958, when its first oil field began producing 5,100 bpd. After 1960, international corporations were granted exploration rights in onshore and offshore areas adjacent to the Niger Delta. In 1965, Shell discovered the EA field in shallow water southeast of Warri.
The end of the Biafran war in 1970 coincided with an increase in global oil prices, allowing Nigeria to profit immediately from its oil production.
Nigeria joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1971 and founded the Nigerian National Petroleum Companies (NNPC) in 1977, a state-owned and controlled firm with a significant presence in both the upstream and downstream sectors.
The Nigerian government’s participation in the oil business has developed over time, from regulatory and supervisory to active engagement in exploration and development.
The government’s first interest was mostly on collecting royalties and other dues from oil companies, as well as in enacting statutory rules to oversee the oil industry’s activities.
The lack of direct involvement in the early days can be traced to the comparatively minor role that oil earnings played in the broader economy before the late 1960s. Another barrier to direct government participation in oil industry activities was a lack of locally educated staff and competence.
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