RESOURCE CURSE IN NIGERIA: PERCEPTION AND CHALLENGES by Agwara
John Onyeukwu
Abstract This
paper examines the Resource Curse phenomenon in the Nigerian
socio-economic
context. It then tries to situate the absence of a mechanism for the
effective
engagement of civil society as the primary reason why It
finds that the present adhoc engagement process makes it difficult for
civil
society and the private sector to be effective in holding government
institutions and public servants accountable. It
identifies some of the impediments to a vibrant engagement process as
the
continuous retention of the Official Secrets Act and the absence of a
freedom
of information legislation, presence of hybrid civil society
organisations,
mutual suspicion between government and civil society, lack of capacity
within
civil society and the absence of an institutionalised lobby framework
in It
considers
various policy entry points provided by international initiatives such
as the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the local
adaptation of
EITI in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(NEITI),
local initiatives such as the National Economic Empowerment and
Development
Strategy Document (NEEDS). It also took a look at what obtains in
Norway and to
some extent Alaska (two oil producing economies) for its comparative
value,
before going on to provide practical guidelines for policy
interventions to
create a friendly, accommodating and efficient open process that
promote civil
society/private sector engagement of government institutions with the
primary
purpose of engendering a transparent and accountable management of
Nigeria’s
oil resources. The policy recommendations are primarily in the mould of international best practices as advocated in such global initiatives as the EITI and the Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) project and other international best practice options applied in the local context.
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