The question that needs to be answered in this article is to what extent has the resource curse affected the Nigerian economy and government? The resource curse is a term that states the observation that countries that have a plethora of natural resources (e.g. oil, coal, diamonds, etc.) typically have unstable political and economic structures (Sachs, 827) . Nigeria is classified as a nation that has succumbed to the resource curse as it has an abundance and over-reliance on oil and a declining gross domestic product (GDP) (Samuels, 321-322). Nigeria is known for its specialization and over-reliance on oil and, according to Ross, nations of this nature tend to have high levels of poverty, large class gaps, weak education systems, more corruption within the government and are less likely to become democracies (Ross, 356). Political instability and regime change in Nigeria will be observed in this article. The resource curse has significantly weakened Nigeria as it led to numerous regime changes, obstacles to the democratization of the nation, corruption in government, as well as civil strife. According to Samuels in Case Studies in Comparative Politics, Nigeria began as a group of states and empires conquered by the British Empire which ruled Nigeria through indirect rule with varying degrees of rule in the north and southern Nigeria (Samuels, 323-326). Since gaining independence in 1960, three republics have been established and each ended with military rule, leading to the creation of the fourth and current republic in Nigeria. Under the current regime, Nigeria's GDP ranks 108 out of 156 and has declined, lower than that of some of the non-oil producing countries in Africa ("Nigeria"). Following the Biafran War, ...... middle of paper .. .... this would help improve the economy of the nation. The pocketing of profits by corrupt officials has characteristics of patrimonialism, which not only hampers the economy because these profits are the only source of income of the nation, but also harms the democratic stability of the nation and can, in to some extent, cause diet changes. of the nation. The nation's civic conflicts are not managed by the government and not only do they drain government revenue, but they also show the government's lack of mobilization, probably due to a lack of taxation, due to the resource curse. These assertions show that the resource curse has greatly affected the government and economy of Nigeria, as it leads to an inefficient and corrupt government with a hindered chance of democratization, with civic conflict that cannot be controlled by the civic government..