As crude oil prices dived lower threatening to dip below $40 a barrel for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008 and notching their longest losing streak since 1986, economies around the world are catching cold. Investors across the world are losing their investment in stock and property owners are also suffering losses as a result of depreciation in currencies. With deepening gloom over demand growth from the world’s second-biggest oil user, and expectations for a significant build-up in surplus oil stocks this year, most oil traders are unwilling to stabilize crude oil prices. The market seems to be stuck in a relentless downward trend.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently appointed a new Managing Director for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The appointment drew applause as usual from ever-ready Nigerians to sing the praises of those in power. Many did not look closely at the process involved in the appointment and the implication for the future of NNPC and the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The new Managing Director, many have said, hit the ground running because on the first day of his assumption of office, he fired the existing executive directors and brought in new persons.

For Nigerians who are old enough to remember the currency change in 1984, what is happening now is similar, though different in nature and context. In 1984, the Nigerian military government of Muhammadu Buhari in an attempt to legitimize its interruption of the democratic process through a military coup d’état directed the CBN to cause a change in the colours of the Nigerian currency. The exercise was designed to render the money alleged to have been stolen by Nigerian political leaders useless in their hands.

Behind the façade of stability, the rebalancing triggered by the price collapse has yet to run its course, and it might be overly optimistic to expect it to proceed smoothly. As a result of the above oil market scenario, the incoming government will have a herculean task running the country effectively. Many states will not be able to pay their bills, same with the Federal Government.

It is atypical for an American president to invite a nascent African head of state to the White House, especially less than one month after the latter’s inauguration. To some observers, therefore, US President Barack Obama’s invitation of his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, for a White House parley scheduled for July 20 would seem to be an aberration and a surprise. But an analysis of both leaders’ circumstances suggests that such a meeting is a no-brainer.