An impartial observer of the Nigerian system would come to a quick conclusion that the system is dependent almost entirely on sharing federal generated oil revenue for national, state, and local government development with little contribution by the private sector. Many developing countries with small industrial base have similar disadvantaged system compared to advanced industrialized countries with consumer driven economy. There is nothing wrong with this system. As the world evolves, opportunities sometimes emerge that could strengthen what previously appears as a disadvantaged system. Based on the current Nigerian system, the country has huge number of young and educated labor force that is yet to be deployed or tapped. The country does not have a massive industrialized private sector to absorb this huge labor force on its own. Policy makers (federal, state, and local) must therefore develop a plan for this huge and wasting young labor force to become absorbed into the global labor force while resident in Nigeria to earn a living for themselves and at the same time become another source of revenue for the country at large. As the advanced countries innovate towards clean energy, revenue from the oil sector would most certainly dwindle over time.  Suggested plan that the country could adopt is narrated in subsequent paragraphs.

As the cost of labor continues to rise in advanced industrialized world, labor is being outsourced to other less developed countries with similar labor force as Nigeria. Countries such as India, China, Vietman, Mexico, etc. with less per capita talented labor force compared to Nigeria are currently benefitting from the revenue and employment created by outsourcing of labor from advanced industrialized nations. This trend will continue and even strengthen in the future as the world races towards one global community. The question is why is Nigeria not contributing and benefiting from this globalization of workforce? The answer is simply. First, Nigeria does not have uninterrupted electricity supply to power the complex industries or technologies 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. Second, Nigeria does not have the complex infrastructure required to transport the massive products to and from the advanced countries safely. Third, the security of the industries, technology, and products are not guaranteed. Finally, some individuals in government agencies sometimes engage in unethical demands that could discourage foreign investments. There are other minor obstacles, but the above are the major ones.

There are things the Nigeria government could address in the short run to begin to attract less complex international labor force participation and then gradually scale up to full and total participation over the long run. First, the country could solve the issue of stable electricity supply in a very short time to power less complex labor force that attends to outsourced jobs that utilizes remote computers such as hospitality and customer services, software and communication technologies, research and development, financial management and banking, design and urban planning technologies, and pharmaceutical research, sales, and management etc. The country could carve out three zones/cities in the country and power it with massive amount of affordable renewable energy source based on the natural or geographical topography of the zone/city. The three zones could be Ibadan, Katsina, and Enugu. For example, Enugu is endowed with mountains and hills where wind turbines and solar farms could be surged to add to the current energy source from the national grid. The same could apply to the other two zones. This project will not take more than 6 months to achieve.

The next step is to engage in robust diplomatic campaign to attract foreign companies to invest in affordable internet access for the zones/cities selected and also engage foreign companies to outsource labor force to Nigerian youths by providing the companies with guaranteed security of products and personnel, ethical compliance of government agencies, tax friendly incentives, and improvement of the sea ports infrastructure. This is achievable in the short term and could be increased in the long run. In the long run, the country should partner with advanced industrialized countries to increase the electricity generation based on the study of current energy source and how much and/or what type of additional energy source or renewable could be added to power the entire country. Once the above suggested plan is implemented, other development will naturally follow.