DOES THE GOOSE STILL LAY THE GOLDEN EGG?

More often than not, it has been argued and so evident Nigeria since between the year of
independence 1960 and early 1970s was a major exporter of certain internationally-traded
items such as cocoa, groundnut and others like palm produce, cotton, of which due to its
popularity existed the Cocoa House in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria and the Great Groundnut
Pyramids in the Northern parts of Nigeria, but with the discovery of crude-oil in commercial
quantity at Oloibiri, South-Eastern Nigeria and the oil-boom of the mid 1970s, crude-oil
exports had taken a greater proportion of Nigerias exportable items thereby impeding the
quantum growth of the countrys agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
The introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1985/1986 and the
Import Liberalization Policy of 1991 though expanding Nigerias volume in trade relations
however have progressively and consequently impaired Nigerias external trade position with
frivolous massive importation, of even largely consumer-goods imports.
Meanwhile from current statistics, Nigeria amidst other notable countries of the world is still
noted to be involved in international exchange of goods, these goods notably are primary
products amidst other internationally-traded commodities which in no particular measure
could help the country have or maintain a favourable terms of trade. More so being largely a
mono-product economy or a non-largely diversified economy i.e. largely dependent on crudeoil exports for possible foreign exchange earnings improving her foreign exchange reserve
and financing her imports or meeting her ever increasing domestic import-transactions
demand for foreign currencies, the recent falling of global oil prices have seemingly left the
economy to be financially inadequate even to meet governance expenditures.
Conclusively, although its been noted that since 2002 Nigeria had maintained a favourable
balance of trade in the countrys current account, it is saddening the even till present Nigeria
still records a negative balance of payment all due to huge capital outflows in the form of
factor payments emoluments to expatriates and their attendant repatriations, medical
tourism abroad and debt repayments.