Soludo: Nigeria must plan to survive without oil

Former governor of Central Bank, Professor Chukuemeka Charles Soludo, says the only way out of  the economic quagmire in Nigeria is for government to stop depending solely on oil and focus on other economic ventures especially agriculture.

He noted that the oil and other mineral resources the country is endowed with, rather than be a blessing have turned the people to a bunch of lazy people who mostly depend  on the oil revenue for development rather than exploiting  other avenues.

Soludo, who was the guest lecturer at the Niger State inauguration lecture with the theme, “Towards the economic transformation and fiscal viability of Nigerian states” to usher in the second term of Governor Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, said: “oil money, rather  than being a blessing, has been a product for laziness where governors and the people of their respective  states expect free money to execute their programmes.”

“We have depended on oil for fifty years,  i.e since independence, and this has not  taken us anywhere and it is not likely to take us anywhere  as long as we rely solely on this and this is why we have to plan for the next fifty years outside oil if we want to survive as a nation”, the former CBN governor declared.
He called on all state governors to exploit the resources in their states by tapping them and utilizing them for  rapid  transformation rather than wait patiently  for the federal allocation to carry  out their projects.

Rev. Matthew Hassan Kuka, who was one of the discussants, noted that the country is in its precarious situation because most of our leaders cannot correct the wrong doings in the society because they are also involved in them.

Hamman Tukur, in his own contribution, noted that the ultimate of any government is on now to get money to impact on the lives of the electorate, pointing  out that out of insufficiency, it may be difficult for such leader to save for the future as advised by Soludo.
The last discussant, Alhaji Suleyman Ndanusa, emphasised on values in the society which, he said, the present leaders should use in governing the country.

BY WOLE MOSADOMI, MINNA