Petroleum Exploitation and the Question of Resource Curse in Nigeria: Has the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 played any Role?

Abstract

The adoption of petroleum as an alternative source of energy by the turn out of the 19^th Century has led to monumental development of the global economy of nations whether blessed with the resources or not. This has not been the case for Nigeria. As the 9^th largest producer of crude oil and natural gas, the Nigerian economy can be celebrated as classical example of the resource curse syndrome. The Niger Delta region where Nigeria’s petroleum reserve resides accounts for over 80 percent of poverty. The environment of the region has been degraded for half a century. Revenue from petroleum sales is unaccounted for, or starch in foreign accounts due to corruption. The Nigerian Government manageably came up with the promulgation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. The paper analyses the effects of the discovery of petroleum in Nigeria and the emergence of the resource curse syndrome. In achieving the aim, it contextualizes and critically appraised scholarly literature doctrinally, which revealed that the resource curse syndrome is well embedded in the Nigerian economy. It was also discovered that the legal frameworks to reduce the incidence of resource curse in Nigeria are ineffectual. In the light of the above, the paper concludes that with the advent of the PIA, the management of Nigeria’s petroleum revenue through its fiscal regime will reduce the incidence of resource curse in Nigeria.