Abstract:

Independent state since 1960 and member of OPEC since 1971, Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and in 2014 exported in excess of 2.1 million bbl/d oil and 26 billion m3 of natural gas.  Globally, Nigeria ranks among the top five liquefied natural gas exporters and is the 9th exporting country.  The oil and gas industry generally accounted for 75% of the government revenues and 95% of countries export revenue. This paper proposes to investigate evidence supporting the analytical concepts associated with oil windfall, which changed the predominantly agricultural Nigerian state into a major oil producing country.  The aim is to critically analyse the oil windfall’s impact on the structure and evolution of the Nigerian economy since 1960.