Gst 201 course guide
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| 3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Overview of the National Economy of Nigeria Before independence, Nigeria could be called a powerful economic nation. Here is a country made up of land covering 98.321 million hectares of which about 74.036 million hectares are arable. Nigeria was also one of the leading countries in agriculture, thanks to the good GST201 MODULE 3 69 quality of its soil, good heat and adequate moisture. But what still remains of immense importance to the Nigerian economy is her huge population. And the Nigerian population has the record to increase astronomically. Only between 1952 and 1991, the Nigerian population increased from 31.1 million to 88.5 million. Currently, population estimates put Nigeria’s figure at 140 million (2006). In 1990 the World Bank ranked Nigeria the seventh most populous country in the world, after China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil and Japan. Before independence, agriculture accounted for over fifty percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria. Again about three quarters of the Nigerian population were engaged fully either in agriculture or agriculture-related activities. Cedar, Iroko and walnut are very much found in the mangrove and rain forest. Within the Savannah, cocoa, rubber, palm produce, kola nut and arable crops such as yam, cassava, maize and citrus are generated. It is also easier in the Nigeria’s grassland to raise cattle and other dairy products. This is also true with the cultivation of grains like guinea corn, millet, rice, cotton, groundnuts, beans and other leguminous crops. Besides agriculture, there are some very important mineral deposits as well. These mineral deposits are scattered almost allover the country. In the West for instance, we have the alluvial gold deposits, while there is tin in the North. The east is the centre of coal. Edo/Delta, Rivers, Imo/Abia and Cross River/Akwa-Ibom States share the lion’s part of petroleum products. Iron, brass and bronze are found in Lokoja. Although scattered, limestone, kaolin, diatomite and clay are found in abundance in Nigeria. Download 0.68 Mb. Share with your friends:
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