Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in Nigeria by 1956, there emerged a new dynamic in the economy of the country which became overtly dependent on oil export as the major source of revenue and foreign exchange earnings. While the discovery of oil enabled Nigeria to accumulate a great amount of wealth in the oil boom of the 1970s, by the late 1980s, due to the fluctuations in global oil prices, Nigeria’s oil revenue dropped drastically. This factor thereby led to a new argument that countries like Nigeria with an abundance of natural resources usually fall victim to the ‘resource curse’ theory due to economic mismanagement of the wealth they accumulate from the sale of their natural resources in the global market. Therefore, this study examined Nigeria’s economic development holistically from the late 1950s when oil was discovered to contemporary times when there has been increasing calls for diversification of Nigeria’s economy to enable the country’s economy to become sustainable and reliant in a post-oil economy and era. The findings from this study were obtained from diverse secondary sources and extant literature that has been written by Scholars and Researchers. This study is significant because it offers insights into the economic development of Nigeria from the 1960s to the current period, as well as recommendations for the future development of Nigeria’s economy.
Diversification, Revenue, Crude oil, Economic Development
. Crude Oil and the Future of Nigeria’s Economy. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2025; 3(3):23-30
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