International Politics of Oil Monomania and Food Security: The Nigerian Case

Abstract

Food security has assumed a prominent role in international politics not only for traditional state actors but also of giant multinationals ranging from large scale Western farming, agro-allied corporations to pharmaceuticals and global food supply and retail channels. This study seeks to examine Nigeria’s oil dependency and its negative effects on food security. It considers the impact of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) in Nigeria as compared to Norway and other countries operating SWF. Data were generated using secondary sources. The paper argues that the continuous reliance of Nigeria on oil is largely associated with increased poverty rate resulting from boom burst cycle which accompanies it. It argues that in Nigeria, the SWF has not achieved the purpose for its adoption. Hence, amidst abundance, a high percentage of people living in oil exporting countries (especially Nigeria) tend to linger in poverty. The paper recommends, among others, that oil dependent countries like Nigeria should invest large oil proceeds to other sectors of the economy like agriculture, human resource training and development, and entrepreneurship. Also, good economic management of oil wealth using the SWF and sound fiscal policies are needed to achieve impressive standard of living in Nigeria.