By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja 

Mismanagement of Nigeria’s oil, gas and solid mineral resources over the years has led to a huge gap between the rich and poor in the country, Global Rights has stated.

Global Rights noted that while the five richest Nigerians were worth $30 billion, millions of Nigerians were struggling to live above $1 per day.

The Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu stated this at a pre-conference briefing and consultation on ‘Inequalities and resource management’ conference coming up in Ghana in August.

Mrs. Baiyewu said “the amount of money the richest man can earn annually in Nigeria is sufficient to lift at least two million people out of poverty in Nigeria. While women represent roughly 50 percent of our population, 79 percent of Nigerian women are poor, extremely poor and of this number 94 percent are illiterate”.

She noted that this was happening in a country that is one of the richest in natural resources globally, adding that between 1960 to date about $30 trillion have been stolen from Nigeria’s treasury by government officials and their collaborators.

Speaking earlier, the Co-Chair of the meeting, Mrs. Obiageli Onuora and Tengi George-Ikoli said the country has a lot of work to do to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria.

Mrs. Onuorah, Head, Communications and Advocacy, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, pointed out that proper management of Nigeria’s natural resources would lead to reduction in poverty and corruption.

She explained that studies conducted by NEITI have shown that host communities of petroleum and solid minerals were the least beneficiaries of revenues from the resources.

On her part, Ms. George-Ikoli of the Natural Resource Governance Institute stated that for a country that relies so much on natural resources for its revenues, Nigeria has completely mismanaged its earnings from the sector.

She noted that coming years will even be tougher for the country with the expected fall in the demand for hydrocarbons due to energy transition.

Also speaking, the Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy, CTA, Faith Nwadishi said Nigeria’s leaders must ensure that the country’s resources work for all Nigerians rather than just for a few individuals.

The conference in Ghana is being organized by Global Rights and Integrated Social Development Centre, ISODEC.

Both bodies noted that “wealth and income inequalities in West Africa are staggering. West Africa houses three of the ten wealthiest countries in Africa. In 2017, wealth held by individuals in West Africa’s wealthiest economy, Nigeria, exceeded $250 billion. Individual wealth held by the second largest economy in the sub-region, Ghana, exceeds $60 billion. A large part of this wealth is derived from natural resources. The inequalities in the distribution of this wealth are stark”.