Resource curse and sustainable development in petroleum states of Africa: the case of Nigeria

Abstract

There has been a plethora of research and policies aimed at salvaging Nigeria from its inability to benefit from the significant amount of proceeds from its endowed resources without success. This is largely due to reliance on a degree of institutional capacity, which is widely absent thus making the country susceptible to various challenges. The objective of the paper is to show the importance of both human and psychological factors in determining the ability of a resource-endowed state to sustainably develop. Using secondary data ana lyses, it contends that while scholars' view of the problem of resource curse as an economic challenge and building strong institutions cannot be ignored, these require human beings with the capability for development, political commitment or will and positive attitudes in addition to government support in the area of effective policy formulation and implementation of codes of conduct and ethics for enhanced mineral resources utilization.