Atiku tells FG to diversify economy now, says reliance on oil failing

A former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Federal Government to diversify the country’s economy, stressing that reliance on oil is failing all mono product economy crude oil exporters.

Atiku, in a statement on Thursday, titled: “How to Pull Nigeria From The Brink”, said Nigeria and her contemporaries had to “cure their addiction to sweet crude.”

He said: “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.”

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election, added: “We need to diversify our economy, and yes, it is easier said than done, but that does not mean it is an impossible task.

“Prior to Nigeria’s October 1, 1960 independence from Great Britain, not only were we a nation self reliant in food production, but we also exported food to other countries, earning precious foreign exchange in the process.

“Who can forget the great groundnut pyramids in Northern Nigeria?

“For example, in 1957, agriculture formed a whopping 86% of our export revenue.

“By 1977, agricultural exports had dwindled to 6%, and today, the figure is less than 3%.

“How did our country go from being a net exporter of agricultural products to a net importer of food products?

“How did we go from a country that could feed itself to one that desperately depends on foreign imports for survival?

“The answer to these questions is leadership focus.”

Atiku stressed that oil economies needed to learn a thing or two about economic diversification from the United Arab Emirates, adding that: “Despite being a young nation, the leadership of the UAE has managed to diversify the economy of this country from an almost complete reliance on oil in the 1970s, to a country where 72% of the GDP comes from the non oil sectors of the economy such as aviation, tourism and services sectors.”

“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 favors Nigeria’s economy greatly, Nigeria can take advantage of this to become an agricultural powerhouse in Africa.”