By Priscillia Eke
Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi has called on leaders from all levels of government to embrace a different level of economy paradigm and not depend on the oil economy, noting that oil will fail the country in the future.
He made this call on Tuesday, the 8th day of October 2019 as the guest speaker during the 59th Founder’s day celebration at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State.
Umahi noted that the essence of choosing the topic is to wake up all stakeholders to the reality that oil will one day fail the country except the nation diversify and plan for the future of its people.
In his words: ” For 50 years, the Nigerian economy has depended mainly on a single export, crude oil as the main source of National and government income.
“Crude oil has essentially funded almost everything, from the goods we import, the infrastructure we build to our public sector wages.
“It has also provided the primary underlying support for our currency.
” While the obsession with oil may have worked in the past, Nigeria needs a very different economy paradigm for its future.”
He, however, pointed out three reasons why Nigeria should purse zero oil economy; first, to insulate the economy from the risk of being vulnerable to a single commodity, second, to create jobs that can raise the standard of living of an average Nigerian and finally to prepare for life beyond the oil revenue.
He maintained that agriculture has been the dominant source of Nigeria’s economy right from 1950 before the discovery of oil, adding that Nigeria has had an enviable record of food sufficiency before oil dominated the economy with a population of about 45.138 million
” According to the Legatum prosperity index, none of the 20 most prosperous nations on earth are heavily reliant on oil export.
” Indeed most of them do not produce any oil at all, of the 10 most prosperous countries in the world, 5 have no oil at all, in 4 out of 10, the contribution of oil to GDP is less than 1%.
” Nigeria is one of 10 economies whose earnings from exports are most heavily dependent on oil.
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” Within the 20 top exporters, the non-oil exporters tend to be richer and have a faster growth rate and have economies that are more resilient.
“Nigeria therefore, cannot expect to only stick in exporting oil, and become a major economic engine, or deepen the size and resilience of its economy. To transform Nigeria’s export agenda, the zero vision lays out a pathway for Nigeria to earn at least 20% of its GPD from non-oil export or approximately USD 100 billion.”
Earlier in his address, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charles Arizechukwu thanked Governor Umahi for obliging to be the guest lecturer of the event, adding that it is the Governor’s first official visit to the University.
He said the topic for the lecture is a perfect one and should preoccupy the minds of any visionary leader in the country. He noted that reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil will require a lot of research in policy and technological innovations.
He, however, expressed displeasure that the school has not harnessed the enormous resources inherent in the over 50 generations of alumni she has produced so far. He appealed that as the school prepares for its diamond jubilee, that alumni of the school should think of what to do for the university.
” As we celebrate our 59th anniversary in readiness for the 60th anniversary, our diamond jubilee, the time has come for us all to think more of what we can do for the University of Nigeria and a lot less of what the university can do for us.” He stressed.
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