GEOLOGY OF NIGERIA

NIGER DELTA- The source of the MAJOR Nigeria’s foreign exchange (adapted from Obaje et al). Recall in the last episode, it was mentioned that the geology of Nigeria is made up of three major litho-petrological components, namely, the Basement Complex; which is Precambrian in age and, Younger Granites; comprise several Jurassic magmatic ring complexes centered around Jos and other parts of north-central Nigeria, and Sedimentary Basins. The Sedimentary Basins, contain sediment fill of Cretaceous to Tertiary ages, and comprise  The Niger Delta,  The Anambra Basin,  The Lower, Middle and Upper Benue Trough,  The Chad Basin,  The Sokoto Basin,  The Mid Niger (Bida-Nupe) Basin and  The Dahomey Basin. Though abundant mineral deposits occur in all the components of Nigerian geology (Basement, Younger Granites, and Sedimentary Basins). Solid mineral deposits of economic significance that include gold, iron ore, cassiterite, columbite, marble, coal, limestone, clays, etc, occur in the different geologic segments of Nigeria and indeed each of the 36 federating states and the FCT has a fair share of the solid mineral inventory of the nation. Oil and gas occur prolifically in the Niger Delta Basin with opportunities to add to the national reserve asset existing in the other sedimentary basins, namely the Anambra Basin, the Benue Trough, the Chad Basin, the Sokoto Basin, the Bida Basin and the Dahomey Basin. Petroleum accounts for about 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and makes up about 70% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Presently, the entire production of petroleum in Nigeria is derived from the Niger Delta region. The stratigraphic sequence of the Niger Delta comprises three broad lithostratigraphic units namely; a continental shallow massive sand sequence – the Benin Formation, a coastal marine sequence of alternating sands and shales– the Agbada Formation and a basal marine shale unit- the Akata Formation. The Agbada Formation consists of alternating sand and shales representing sediments of the transitional environment comprising the lower delta plain (mangrove swamps, floodplain, marsh) and the coastal barrier and fluviomarine realms. The sand percentage within the Agbada Formation varies from 30 to 70%, which results from the large number of depositional off lap cycles and it serves the main role of hydrocarbon reservoir. The South–South geopolitical zone i.e Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-ibom and Cross river states along with Abia, Imo and Ondo States constitute the oil-producing states of Nigeria. However, several geological studies have indicated that potentials to add to the nation’s current reserves exist in sedimentary basins within several other states of Nigeria. Despite such a huge mineral resources endowment, it is estimated that about 70% of the nation’s population live below the poverty line, defined as living on less than one dollar per day. Abject poverty, violent clashes, kidnapping, extortion, etc, characterize the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region. The existing socio-political bureaucratic arrangement gives the political elites, some cartel managers and probably some terrorism sponsors, the access to manipulate the institutions arising as a result of endemic corruption, all of which aggregate to becloud the efficacy of government policies aimed at tackling the natural “resource curse”. The concept of the “resource curse,” which emerged in the late 1980s alleged that natural resource abundance leads to a host of negative economic, political, and social outcomes. This theory, which directly opposed the prior conventional wisdom that natural resources were good for development, has now been adopted as the new orthodoxy and is espoused by such bodies as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). instability, corruption, poverty, and low levels of human development. The concentration and “lootability” of resources can influence the type of war which takes place. The resource curse is also connected with political regime types, with many cross-country analyses showing that resource rich countries are less likely to be democratic, especially in the cases of oil and mineral wealth. Comparative cross-country studies on economic performance have shown that an abundance of natural resources, particularly resources such as solid minerals and oil, can lead to undesirable economic consequences, such as slow or negative economic growth, inflation, low savings, high unemployment, export earnings. States in Nigeria that have sedimentary basins with the potential to add to current national reserve asset.