Oil revenue is still one of the most relevant sources of foreign earner in contemporary Nigeria despite the systematic and the numerous challenges bedeviling the management of oil revenue. The study therefore, examined the relevance of oil revenue in economic growth in contemporary Nigeria using annual time series data from 1981-2020. The data were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, Volume 31, 2020. The data obtained were modelled using the Ordinary least square (OLS) method; three control variables “non-oil revenue, government expenditure and exchange rate” were included to moderate for the effect of crude oil revenue, while economic growth was proxied by real GDP. The OLS estimate suggests that a significant (0.0000) and negative (-2.083536) relationship exists between oil revenue and Real GDP in Nigeria; while non-oil revenue have a positive and significant relationship with real GDP. The negative relationship as shown between oil revenue and real GDP in Nigeria in this study is buttressed by the Resource Curse Theory. We therefore recommend amongst others that government should rehabilitate and upgrade our refineries to increase efficiency, capacity and product quality to burst economic growth that will lead to the reduction in poverty, inequality and unemployment.