Recently, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Nigeria, Enerique Fernando Arrundell, during a visit to the Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, offered some advise to Nigerian government about how to make the huge revenue it derives from oil work for the citizens.

The ambassador had been invited by Professor Akunyili as part of the Federal Government's effort to encourage investors to Nigeria. Mr Arrundell obliged her, and promptly launched into the politics of the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela's acerbic, charismatic, some might say pugnacious, leader, Hugo Chavez. Mr Arrundell noted that if it went the Venezuela way by wresting its oil from the hands of multinationals, Nigeria would be raking in much more than it is earning now, and could invest such gains in social policies which would benefit its teeming population.

The ambassador observed that in 1999, the Venezuelan oil industry was in the hands of multinationals, mostly American, which controlled 80 percent stake, leaving only 20 percent in the hands of Venezuelans. Under that arrangement, Venezuelans paid more for oil with four foreign oil companies having a monopoly. That year however, the Venezuelan government decided to reverse the trend.

Today, the government controls 90 percent of its oil, with foreigners handling the rest. While only four countries worked with Venezuela under the old order, there are 20 countries now working in that country under the new system, Mr Arrundell pointed out. Just in case his point had not been taken by his host, Mr Arrundell rubbed it in: in Nigeria, he noted, he spent 12,000 naira to fill his car, at 65 naira per litre; in his native Venezuela, the same quantity of fuel would cost him a paltry 400 naira.

Arrundell explained that Venezuela now has 12 refineries in the United States, and 18,000 filling stations across the West Coast. Money saved from controlling its oil has been invested in education, with 17 new universities that offer free education. The country has produced 22,000 medical doctors, so that sick Venezuelans no longer need to physically go to hospitals.

They only need to dial for a doctor, and one would arrive at their doorstep. If we have painted a rosy picture of Venezuela, it is because we relied on the ambassador's say-so. His words are important because they were addressed directly to our government, managers of our economy, which like Venezuela, is driven primarily with proceeds from crude.

It is possible that Mr Arrundell's message may have struck a raw nerve with Akunyili whose media aides, we understand, tried to squelch it, with minimal success though. It is not surprising because the ambassador's message comes at a time when the drum of deregulation was sounding the loudest.

It also came at a time when a crippling, but wholly unnecessary, fuel scarcity was biting most parts of Nigeria, in spite of its vast oil resources. Successive Nigerian governments have neglected other sectors of the economy that today oil is the only significant foreign currency earner, yet its impact is hardly felt on the lives and the living standard of many Nigerians. Mr Arrundell's method may be faulty only because his words were not couched in diplomatese, but they resonate with Nigerians, who for long believe that the wealth of the nation is not being properly harnessed for the benefit of the commonwealth.

Nevertheless, the message, though coming from an outsider, has hit home and at the proper time. It is a message we believe the Nigerian government should seriously consider instead of clinging to arguments that address only the interest of the elite, with marginal benefit to the rest. The government needs reminding that only recently it announced an amnesty package to stem the tide of bloody unrest in the Niger Delta region, which arose because of the failure to meet the social demands of the people of that region.

Majority of Nigerians live below the poverty line, and development is at its lowest. If the current strategy has failed to make Nigeria a truly great nation, then there is logic in seeking alternatives. We ask the government to take the Venezuelan offer of help in this area very seriously.