The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has identified Nigeria’s new crude oil at a lecture he delivered at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos State.
- Sanwo-Olu spoke as the nation grappled with the inevitable realities of macroeconomic reforms being implemented by the government.
- He thus said the need to focus on boosting the non-oil alternatives that will aid the full diversification of the national economy had become more critical than ever.
- The governor said decades of dependence on importation of finished goods and export of a single commodity had made foreign exchange the sole determinant of the nation’s economic stability, stressing that the same factor remained a fundamental contributor to the current economic situation.
- Sanwo-Olu emphasised the need to harness export potential and develop non-oil commodities markets as the nation gradually makes its way into the phase of recovery. This, he said, will balance the shortfall in foreign exchange earnings.
- The Governor made the points when he delivered the 36th Convocation Lecture of YABATECH, with the theme: “Developing Exportable Alternatives for Nigeria’s Economic Recovery.”
- The occasion, chaired by the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, was graced by eminent Nigerians, academics, captains of industry, private sector leaders and students.
- Shettima was represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua.Sanwo-Olu, in his paper, observed that the historic oil boom of the early 1970s met the country unprepared, noting that the sudden influx of petrodollars made the nation shift from exporting agricultural products such as groundnut, cotton, cocoa and oil palm, to relying on food imports. This, he said, made Nigeria lose its potential to be one of the richest and most prosperous countries in the world.
- To break the cycle of underperformance of non-oil alternatives, the Governor said the country must prioritise export growth in three key non-oil areas: Agriculture, technology and creative arts. He said it was time for the nation to rise up and convert potential in these areas into reality.
- Sanwo-Olu said: “As we gradually but steadily make our way into the phase of economic recovery, one of the most important things we can do as a people and a nation is to increase the
