Poor Nations Of The 21st Century

Developing countries face many issues that developed countries don’t have to worry about. From structural problems within the government, to issues with feeding their citizens these countries struggle with what appears to be basic survival issues. In comparison to developed countries, citizens of developing countries life expectancy is shorter, This doesn’t mean that they lack the resources needed to succeed, a majority of these countries just lack the ability to manage their resources efficiently. Corruption, exploitation and lack of a stable economy prevent these developing countries from transitioning from developing to a developed nation .

What is poverty? Poverty is the lack of the necessities to live, such as nutrient, clean water, education, healthcare, clothing, and shelter. People all over the world are unable to afford these basic needs. Poverty has been a problem all throughout history. There will always be people who are hungry and homeless. It doesn’t matter what the prosperity level, or median income is. Starting a campaign to plan to end world poverty through volunteer work is a start to ending this crisis. Poverty isn’t going to be solved in a day, a week, or even a year. It’s going to take some time to end this world problem. People take for granted what they have. With poverty comes diseases and hunger. Poverty is responsible for many world problems and people all over the world can help end these issues.

What is poverty? Poverty is a condition in which people suffer from lack of money or extremely poor. Lack of money will not let them buy the most necessary materials that every single human being in this world needs such as enough food, clothes, a house where they can live safely. This lack of materials can lead those people to various other diseases which they are unable to get treatment for. It is known that the number of poor countries is more than the number of wealthy countries. I do not believe most of the countries were rich the time it was found. They became rich by involving in certain businesses as well as importing and exporting. If those countries can become rich who were poor at once, there should be a strong reason why the poorest countries still remain poor even after centuries.

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” ― Nelson Mandela (Mandela, 2005, p. 123)

Worldwide, approximately 1.3 billion people do not have access to affordable and efficient healthcare and out of those who have access, almost 170 million are forced to spend around 40 % of their income on medical treatment (Asante et al,2016).In low and middle income countries (LMICs), the major constraint to the access of healthcare is financial burden, where out-of-pocket payments (OPP) contribute to approximately 50 % of total health expenditure (WHO, 2010). As a result, in these countries there is high probability of many households being pushed into poverty due to high medical expenses (McIntyre,2006).The matter of concern in LMICS is that poor and disadvantaged groups of population do not have access to adequate quality of healthcare.For instance, according to WHO (2010) up to 20 % of women in rich population are more likely to have a birth attended by skilled health worker than a poor woman. Therefore, taking an action to address health inequities faced in these countries would save up to 700,000 women.

One of the richest nations in the world continues to face an issue with no end towards it. America is known to be a country with great opportunities for better living and most importantly a chance for a successful future. It is unfortunate that despite of a better life and opportunities in America, poverty continues to be present and affecting citizens. Income does in fact; affect the condition of living in America. There are a number of outcomes as a result of poverty such as being physically unhealthy, lack of achievement in education/career, and fewer supports that Americans rely on to be successful. The fact that children are dependent from others makes them the target most affected by poverty and makes it difficult to overcome their chance of a better living condition in America. There has been research about intervention programs, which demonstrate ways to improve developmental problems that are experienced by children in poverty. Citizens in America may not be fully aware of the number of children in poverty, nevertheless statistics continue to demonstrate and explain how children are affected every year.

When discussing poverty, it is difficult to pinpoint one simple reason that explains why poor countries remain poor. However, patterns may be drawn when looking at states’ history during European colonization. The notion that the existence or absence of European settlers largely shaped political institutions within states is supported by the two different institution types: representative institutions and extractive institutions. European settlers promoted their own wants through strong, representative institutions in colonized states. These states, such as the United States or Australia, are considered wealthy countries today, whereas today’s poor countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, were colonized by European settlers as extractive institutions. In this paper, I will argue that, poor countries remain poor because the weak political institutions inherited by extractive states under colonial regimes persist, making it difficult to develop an appropriate relationship between the state and the market and degree of state intervention in the economy.

Lesser developed countries have an issue where they are behind on technology. In today world most develop countries have enter an era where technology has been one of the primary focus on there agendas. Technology has found it way to daily life of people with the use of smartphones and computer and to more important aspect like toward the economy growth, educational and health. lesser develop countries lack certain aspect to acquire these technology to better improver their countries. Therefore, I see that if technology could be acquiring on these lesser developed countries it could contribute to their health, economy growth and education.

The question under consideration is “can globalization reduce poverty around the globe, and should this be the aim? Globalization is characterized as an unstoppable cross-border movement of goods, people, ideas, and economic activity that leads to greater economic interdependence amongst states and integration of market forces across territorial boundaries. The cross-border movement of financial securities, technology, and information, allows various state and non-state actors to enhance their competitiveness globally as well as create better economic conditions within state boundaries to spur rapid economic growth that, if governed correctly, may improve the general quality of live for people.

What has occurred in the Niger Delta is linked to its past struggles with military rule transitioning to democratic rule, which often ends in a military regime taking control nonetheless. From the start of its independence, Nigeria has slowly grown in its dependence on oil as it’s main economic revenue stream. Before the discovery of oil, the state had yam and cassava crops, palm oil, rubber, and lumbers that provided economic revenue, though modest (Jike, V.T. 2004). However once oil was found in 1956 and Independence in 1960, Nigeria has not only relinquished vast tracts of land to International Oil Companies (IOC) such as Royal Dutch Shell (later named Shell Petroleum Development Company), ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, and ENI, but it has left the companies to conduct their extraction methods as they see fit (Imobighe, T. A. (n.d.); Kadafa, A.A. 2012). In 2006, the Oil Spill Intelligence Report stated, “Shell Nigeria is accused of using double standards”, referring to the outdated equipment and unethical methods Shell practices. The Niger Delta has experienced 50 years of oil spills since the beginning of oil production due to oil pipelines that are no longer in use leaking up to $10 million worth of oil a day as reported by Shell. Shell has thus been accused of using outdated and old equipment in the Delta they know they wouldn’t dare use in the other countries they operate in.

The first commercial discovery and operation of oil and gas in Nigeria commenced effectively in 1956. Since then, the Nigerian economy has over time become largely dependent on petroleum. Petroleum accounts for about one-third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 76% of government revenue, and 95% of the foreign exchange earnings. Nigeria is the 11th largest crude oil producer in the world, and the largest crude oil producer in Africa contributing about 3% of the global crude oil production . Nigeria is also the 9th country in terms of gas reserves in the world, having the largest gas reserves in Africa, contributing about 8% of the global liquefied natural gas supply . Despite these impressive figures, 70% of Nigeria’s domestic product demands are met through importation. This cost the country around $62 billion in 2014 which was higher than what the country received (averagely around $56 billion) from crude oil exports in the same year. As at 2014, Nigeria imported 886 million barrels of petroleum products, making it the 13th largest petroleum importer in the world. For each barrel of petrol imported, Nigerian government paid at least $8 per barrel, which tallied the total fuel subsidy payment to about $7 billion in 2014 .

This paper is divided into four chapters; chapter 2 looks at crude oil refining in Nigeria, offering an overview and challenges that confronts it. In chapter 3, crude oil refining and petroleum products economics is examined and chapter 4 looks at the implications of both crude oil refining and importation vis - à – vis the economy. The chapter 5 concludes the paper with few suggestions as to what the best economic option should be in meeting the petroleum products demand in Nigeria.

The Petroleum industry in Nigeria is the largest source of government revenue and it occupies a pivotal position in term of foreign exchange earnings with about 90 percent and over 80 percent contribution to the Gross domestic product. Petroleum sector is the mainstay of Nigerian economy since its discovery in commercial quantity in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State Nigeria in 1956. From 1970 to 2009, the income from petroleum stood at 82 percent with 18 percent from non-oil revenue. According to the world bank, “Nigeria is the biggest exporter of oil in Africa with the largest natural gas reserve in the continent”.

The volatility in the prices of crude oil in the international oil market which was triggered by factors within the global economy has impacted the Nigeria economy to some degree with dire consequences for the implementation of the 2012 budget. Some of the factors which triggered the fall in oil prices include a massive liquidation of net-long speculative positions, a deepening Euro-zone crisis as well as concerns over a weakening economic outlook, steady rise in global crude stocks, weak US jobs data, and a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing activity.

In this section we would look at the Royal Dutch Shell Oil company operations worldwide and in particular the Nigeria operations from several different angles. We will look at how Shell Nigeria operations can impact upon the three stakeholders; The CEO of Shell, an investor and a local Shell employee. Then we would look at this wicked problem with the oil spill in the Niger delta.