What Really Happened to Nigeria’s Oil Boom Under Jonathan? – By Ugoji Maximillian

Many times I hear Nigerians say,

“oh ..the Goodluck Jonathan Government was good. He made life easy for us “

I consider statements like that crass ignorance.

In fact the suffering you are going through now, Goodluck Jonathan’s prodigal approach to managing the oil boom of his era caused it .

Many of us who had been following this page know I say it how I see it .

Now follow me…

Between 2010 and 2015, Nigeria enjoyed one of the biggest oil windfalls in history.

With crude selling ABOVE $100 per barrel and relative peace in the Niger Delta.

The nation should have been on the path to prosperity.

Yet today, we are poorer, more indebted, and have fewer major infrastructure achievements than we deserved.

He wasted that prosperity.

DATA & FACTS YOU CAN’T IGNORE:

1. Massive Oil Revenue

Nigeria earned an estimated ₦51 trillion from crude oil sales during the Jonathan years — a huge chunk of the country’s historical oil earnings.

2. Excess Crude Account Drained:

The “savings” account that should have prepared Nigeria for bad times was almost emptied as he was leaving by 2015, with barely $2bn left when oil prices crashed.

3. Foreign Reserves Collapsed:

Despite selling so much oil, foreign reserves fell from over $40bn to about $28–30bn by 2014.

4. Oil Producing Regions Shortchanged:

Out of all that oil revenue, only about 14% was paid to oil-producing states — far below what experts say should have been delivered.

5. Debt Exploded:

Nigeria’s external debt almost doubled under Jonathan — from ~$35bn to ~$63bn — even while oil revenue was at record levels.

He was still borrowing even when there was oil boom.

WHAT DID THE MONEY GO TO?

• No Major Mega Projects – Despite huge inflows, there’s little to show in power infrastructure, rail, airports or industrial expansion.
• Fuel Subsidy & Corruption Scandals.

– Billions were lost to massive fuel subsidy fraud and opaque contracting.

• Private Jets & Luxury Lifestyles for Elites – Public funds fueled personal wealth rather than national development.
• Minimal Economic Diversification. The economy stayed dependent on oil with virtually no effort to build other sectors.

My Point Exactly…

Millions of barrels of oil should have equaled jobs, hospitals, better education and roads.

Instead, Nigeria entered an economic crisis with nearly empty savings and rising debt — despite the “oil boom.”

Many Nigerians are too emotional to rightly ask:

👉 Where did all the oil money go?

But I am digging into this history to tell you that Nigeria deserved better!

Jonathan ran a prodigal government.

His failure is why this issue of insecurity in the North escalated.

Money meant for buying arms , over N40 billion ended up in private bank accounts of him and his men.

Dasuki helped to share the money.

So when Buhari said,”I met nothing in the account, he was right.”

Men like Jonathan should be in the wrong page of history but we’re too emotional to face Truth.

If he used all that wealth to invest in the future, we wouldn’t be here .

But we?

We pardon those who destroyed our future but insult those who want to fix it .

Life doesn’t work that way.

Ugoji Maximillian speaker, Author, Entrepreneur and believer in the beauty that’s in humanity.