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A former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, has lamented the poor use of Nigeria’s natural resources, especially crude oil.
He also expressed worry that Nigeria’s poor rating in the corruption perception index and other indicators of public probity was a cause for concern.
According to him, Nigeria is also very poor in the rating of state effectiveness.
He made the remarks as the guest speaker at the 6th Annual Lecture of Just Friends Club of Nigeria, held on Tuesday in Abuja.
The topic of Amadi’s lecture was ‘High Cost Of Governance As An Impediment To Development.’
The lecture was chaired by a former Executive Director (Programmes) of the Nigerian Television Authority and former Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Olorogun Igho.
Amadi said Nigeria faced an acute crisis of values reflected in the gross lack of productivity in both its private and public sectors, despite having an array of educated people.
“As a world-leading producer of oil, we ought to be richer than we are. But we know that the wealth of nations does not come mostly from natural resources.
“Countries like Singapore and South Korea are not so naturally endowed.
In fact, they are geographically constrained in many ways.
But Nigeria won the geographical lottery in many ways.
“Natural resources have not translated into wealth. They have mostly turned into a curse,” Amadi lamented.
He added, “Natural resources in themselves are not a curse. They are a blessing. But a blessing that calls for more work to turn them into a lasting benefit to the people.
“Some of the Scandinavian countries are endowed with oil, like Nigeria. They turned theirs into a blessing through smart policies and management.
“For them, oil resources have lubricated the national innovation system that has made them high-income economies. Examples are Norway and Finland.”
Amadi, who is currently the Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, remarked that Nigeria’s travail was partly the lack of good leadership that could mobilise citizens toward a virtuous path of productivity.
He added that such leadership was often described as transformative or redefining.
He said, “Capacity is an important ingredient of development. With low capacity, a country may not be able to generate good policies and effectively implement them.
“Lessons from successful Asian countries underline the importance of state capacity. These countries succeeded because they can design good policies and implement them with coherence and effectiveness.”
In his welcome remarks, the President of JFCN, Fred Ohwahwa, said the topic was germane for the present time.
“From whatever angle you look at it, Nigeria is an apology to its vibrant citizens, the African continent, and the Black race.
“We are far behind in virtually all metrics of development. And this is in spite of abundant human and material resources the country is blessed with,” he stated. The JFCN is a socio-cultural organisation that fosters and encourages the spirit of unity amongst members and between the club and other friendly associations. The club is also involved in recreation, and sports and engages in acts of philanthropy in favour of the needy members of the society at large.
