Resource Control and Management in Nigeria, 1999–2023.

Abstract

Since Nigeria’s return to constitutional democracy in 1999, disputes over issues of ownership, control, and distribution of revenue arising from natural resources have continued to occur in Nigeria since the country returned to democracy in 1999 in spite of the 13% derivation floor, the Niger Delta interventionist agencies, and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. Existing literature views ownership, revenue distribution, environment grievance, and conflict as separate themes without considering how their co-existence can be explained and the reason for their persistence in spite of the reforms instituted by the country. This paper will therefore examine how the rentier nature of the Nigerian state has influenced resource ownership, distribution, and management between 1999 and 2023, how successful the post-1999 legal frameworks have been, and the implications of the centralization of control over natural resources. Based on the Rentier State Theory, the paper will use thematic content analysis of constitutional, statutory, judicial, agency, and academic documents as this method of analysis is suitable for documentary research data and theoretical analysis. In the study, it is evident that the ownership and rent distribution stayed centralized; the reforms changed the administrative structures but not the rentier system, while poor accountability, rent seeking, and disregard for environmental issues kept the host community agitated. The study offers a coherent explanation of the controversy and recommends phased fiscal-federal restructuring and diversification.