Yusuf Bello| Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the last presidential election, on Thursday called for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy, warning that the country will never be industrialized while over depending on crude oil.
In an opinion article titled, “How to Pull Nigeria from the Brink,” the former vice president urged the government to look towards the agricultural sector as a way of shoring up revenue in the face of dwindling oil fortunes.
He also said Nigeria’s dependence on crude oil is failing the country and that “now is the time for Nigeria and her contemporaries to cure their addiction to sweet crude”.
The article read, “As at today, Nigeria is pricing its very low sulphur sweet crude at $10 per barrel, yet buyers are balking. Our sweet crude is becoming a little bitter.”
“I had earlier warned that Nigeria needs a Strategic Reserve to store unsold crude. Now, we have so much crude and no one to buy it, nowhere to store it, and little idea what to do with it.
“Barely three years ago, I had also alerted that the “crude thinking” promoted by our dependence on crude oil will lead to a rude shock.
“If you are still talking about oil, you are in the past. As far as I am concerned, the era of oil is gone. If you want to believe it, believe it. If you do not want to believe it, you will see it. It is crude thinking to continue to talk and base development projections on crude oil,” I had said at a public event in the nation’s capital.”
“For far too long we have grown high on our own supply, to the extent that we have neglected almost every other sector of our economy.”
“This present rude awakening should be seen as a blessing in disguise – a blessing that compels us to take those drastic actions that will free us from the crude oil trap. We need to diversify our economy, and yes, it is easier said than done, but that does not mean it is an impossible task.
“In Nigeria, our diversification should embrace agriculture as the primary sector earmarked for development, because agriculture is a low hanging fruit, is key to ensuring food subsistence, and with the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AFCTA), which favours Nigeria’s economy greatly, Nigeria can take advantage of this to become an agricultural powerhouse in Africa.”
“We must face the fact that reliance on crude oil is failing Nigeria and other mono-product economies, crude oil exporters.”
Recalling how agriculture used to be the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy in the 50s and 60s, Atiku admitted that diversification might not be easy but said it is possible.
While citing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia as examples of oil-producing nations who have diversified their economies, he called on Nigeria to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AFCTA) to make the country “become an agricultural powerhouse in Africa.”
According to him, Nigeria must learn from “Venezuela’s predicaments,” stressing that “what is abundantly clear is that Nigeria is never going to become an industrialized nation by selling more oil, even if the oil market recovers.”
Also, he called for cost-saving measures including letting go of the Presidential Air Fleet, the cancellation of the planned renovation of the National Assembly and reduction of budgets for the legislature among others.
“We cannot be funding non-necessities with debt and not expect our economy to collapse,” adding that “The same cost-saving measures must be adopted by the states and councils government.”
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