Between 1960 and 2000, Nigeria gained more than $300 billion in oil revenues, while real income per capita fell. The nature and extent of this “oil curse” can be seen most clearly in Nigeria’s struggle to implement the capital investment needed for sustainable economic growth. This chapter uses a three-part analytical framework that integrates colonial and post-colonial governance, capital investment and natural resource extraction. It places the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s into its historical context, starting with resource booms in the nineteenth century. It demonstrates why oil was different, highlighting its coincidental timing with challenging local, national and international circumstances.