As the global community suffers great economic setback owing to the ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it has ostensibly become compelling for Nigeria as a country to look inwards towards discovering her entire natural resources with a view to harnessing them towards emancipation of her economy.
Some of the common natural resources on earth are land, water, sunlight, atmosphere, wind, coupled with animal life and vegetation. A natural resource may exist as a separate entity like fresh water and air as well as a living organism such as fish, or it might exist in an alternate form, which must be processed to obtain the required resource to include petroleum, metal, ores, and most forms of energy.
It’s noteworthy that some, including air and sunlight, can be found everywhere, and are known as ‘ubiquitous resources’. Whilst, most resources only occur in restricted areas, and are referred to as ‘localized resources’.
There are very few resources that are considered inexhaustible – these are solar radiation, geothermal energy, and air, though access to pure air may not be possible.
The vast majority of resources are theoretically exhaustible, which means they have a finite quantity and can be depleted if improperly managed; a good example of this is petroleum. Such finite resources required a sound policy and regulation, to be implemented by the concerned government, towards their preservation.
It’s pertinent to acknowledge that every man made product consists of one or two natural resources. Suffice it to say that everything required or used by mankind constitutes, at least, a natural resource. In most cases, some of these resources such as air and water, are directly utilized or consumed by man without processing them.
The above outlined phenomenon proves beyond doubts that humankind cannot survive or strive successfully, as the case may be, without natural resources. This assertion is not unconnected with the reason every rational government makes frantic effort toward adequate use and preservation of the natural resources found within its country.
In Nigeria, hundreds of natural resources abound, in which each state including Abuja is a beneficiary. Some of these resources are petroleum, tantalite, lead, zinc, glass-sand, copper, gemstone, crystal, oil/gas, bitumen, phosphate, gold, coal, clay, salt, gypsum, iron-ore, uranium, and limestone, in addition to sunlight, wind, land, water, vegetation and air that are ubiquitous in nature.
Some of the aforementioned substances can enable any country to massively embark on agriculture, and attain to any desired height. Nigeria does not possess just land, but a well fertile land that can produce crops in any quantity and quality. Its vegetation and atmosphere is equally invariably good enough to raise every kind of animal life, including wildlife.
Though crop and livestock farming used to be the talk of the day in the Nigerian society, it’s sad to note that currently such lucrative occupation is being relegated to the background owing to over-reliance on mono-resource, petroleum.
It’s really high time we as a people desisted from this irritating high level of dependency that has eaten deep into our socio-economic bone marrow, especially at this time the crude oil price has globally fallen.
Proper utilization of clay alone can take the country’s tourism industry, that’s presently moribund, to enviable heights. Same is applicable to the use of other similar compounds or metals that are in abundance across the federation, to include uranium, limestone, and gold.
In the same vein, it is disheartening that an essential mineral resource like coal has, over the decades, been swept under the carpet; coal can be used to produce energy, both in the form of heat and electricity.
It’s mind-boggling to hear that a country like Nigeria that can boast of abundant sunlight, wind and what have you, is still battling on how to generate steady and reliable electricity, whilst countries like the U.S.A blessed with just a limited amount of the resources, are experiencing uninterruptible power supply.
Away from energy; it could be observed that our forest reserves that could produce enough timber for importation, are currently wearing a pathetic physiognomy as a result of docile policies.
Indeed, Nigeria is densely endowed with various lucrative natural resources, but it’s very sad that the governments at all levels are not doing enough as regards the adequate use and conservation of the resources; hence, this calls for drastic turnaround via deployment of genuine political will.
Now that the sale of petroleum resources is no longer booming, it’s high time we retraced our steps toward ensuring that each of the available resources is thoroughly harnessed for the needed economic emancipation.
The government really needs to ensure adequate conservation and sustenance of these natural resources, through implementation of strict and viable policies cum laws, and their proper enforcement.
Most of these needed policies such as Land Use and Forests Reserve Acts, which were duly upheld in the past, are presently abused or overlooked in various quarters.
We need to urgently revive them, make apt amends where necessary, as well as introduce new ones toward attaining the required emancipation of the country’s economy, which is currently in a dilapidated state.
On the other hand, individuals on their parts, ought to equally think outside the box with a view to diversifying their respective sources of income to avert the foreseen state of doom. The good news is that, if the needful is done, this will surely be regarded as a blessing in disguise in no distant time.
So, as hunger looms in the land, occasioned by the emergence of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, the concerned authorities must take into cognizance that there’s no better time than now to act accordingly.
