- Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has urged the federal government to diversify Nigeria's economy - Atiku made the plea on Thursday, April 30, amid the falling price of fuel - The ex-VP noted that reliance on oil was failing all mono-product economy and crude oil exporters Atiku Abubakar, a Nigeria's former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 general election, has called on the federal government to diversify the country’s economy.EMAGE reports that Atiku in a statement posted on his Twitter page on Thursday, April 30, stressed that reliance on oil was failing all mono-product economy, crude oil exporters. Atiku, in a statement titled: How to pull Nigeria from the brink, said Nigeria and her contemporaries had to “cure their addiction to sweet crude''
“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,” he said.
He added that the country needed to diversify the economy, saying that though it is easier said than done, it 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. Loading. “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 the leadership focus.”
Meanwhile, EMAGE had previously reported that Atiku's son, Mohammed defeated coronavirus pandemic after spending 40 days in isolation. It was reported that Mohammed in a message on Monday, April 27, said he has now tested negative for coronavirus. Mohammed was first confirmed to have contracted the virus on March 19, and was subsequently transferred to an isolation centre on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
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