10. Nigeria’s Oil Wealth and the Resource Curse
Nigeria’s vast oil reserves, discovered in the Niger Delta in the late 1950s, promised prosperity but instead fueled corruption, conflict, and widespread poverty—a phenomenon known as the resource curse. Despite generating billions in revenue, the oil wealth rarely reached local communities. Instead, it enriched political elites and multinational corporations, breeding resentment and unrest among impoverished populations. Environmental degradation from oil spills further devastated agriculture and fisheries, exacerbating tensions. Militant groups emerged, demanding justice and compensation, plunging the region into decades of turmoil, and starkly illustrating how natural resource abundance can paradoxically trap nations in cycles of poverty and violence.
