Nigeria's Oil Curse

Nov 25, 2015 | Hilary Matfess
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On Nov. 8, the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, announced that the state-run company was on the verge of a major oil discovery in the Lake Chad area after years of failed exploration attempts.

Kachikwu estimated that the new fields could contribute a significant amount to the NNPC's projected 2016 revenue of $20 billion as early as next year. He also suggested the bolstered budget would allow the company to fund more exploration projects. Given that the cratering oil prices and drop-off in oil revenue has contributed significantly to the country’s economic stagnation (the national statistics bureau estimates the national second quarter growth at 2.35 percent as compared to over 6 percent at the same time last year), many Nigerians greeted the announcement with enthusiasm. However, a more thorough examination suggests that this discovery is neither new, nor a blessing. Adding oil to already volatile social and geopolitical factors in the Lake Chad Basin — an ecological region that spans Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic — is a recipe for further instability.