Those who claim northern Nigeria secured its right to produce the leader of Nigeria because the region once provided the leading foreign exchange earner for the country through groundnut cultivation in the era of the groundnut pyramids after 1965 support their position with claims that western Nigeria and southern Nigeria produced leaders of the country for similar reasons. For whereas until 1965 cocoa, which was mainly produced in western Nigeria, was the single highest foreign exchange earner for the country, crude oil, which came principally from southern Nigeria, became the single highest foreign exchange earner for the country after 1973.

Proponents of this position insist that for any region to want to lay claim to the leadership of the country it must provide proof of being the provider of the single largest foreign earner for the country, whether now or in the past.