Lai Mohammed – ‘Reliance on oil bane of nation’s growth’

Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed has identified  over-dependence on oil as responsible for the country’s economic recession.

Mohammed spoke at a news conference in his home at Oro, Irepodun Local Government in Kwara.

He said the economic situation was not about trading words, pointing out that “those who understand knew that this recession was bound to happen in such circumstance”.

Mohammed said the crash in the global price of oil exposed the country’s defective economic policy, with oil accounting for over 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The minister noted that the situation was further compounded by inadequate reserve to cushion the effect of oil “misfortunes’’ on the country.

“We have a defective economic structure, which depended largely on a single platform of crude and fuel.

“Crude oil accounts for between eight and 12 per cent of our GDP and another 53 per cent of the GDP, which we call non-oil, unfortunately also depend on the same oil.

“When the price of oil now crashes in the international market, definitely you are bound to have this kind of shock in the economy,” he said.

He decried the preference for imported goods, saying substantial amount of foreign exchange was spent on importation of goods and services.

Mohammed blamed past administrations for the lack of massive investment on infrastructure to assist manufacturing industries and boost agriculture.

According to him, such inadequacies are responsible for today’s socio-economic imbalance.

The minister, who acknowledged there was growth in the nation’s economy between 2010 and 2014, however, said the growth was only fuelled by consumption.

“The growth was not fuelled by production or by investment, and that explains why it was short-lived,” he said.

He said this administration’s effort to correct past anomalies could not be felt immediately because the rot was too enormous for short term remedies.

Mohammed noted that the administration inherited a debt of N67 billion on fertiliser procurement alone.

He listed part of the palliative reforms as massive investment in infrastructure and agriculture.

“People say we should not talk about what happened yesterday but it is pertinent to learn, understand and move away from past mistakes.

“In 2014, the government then expended about N18 billion on roads, but spent N35 billion on travels. This year alone, we have spent N70 billion on roads.

“People say why are these steps not being felt immediately; it is because the last government refused to pay contractors between 2012 and 2015 even when crude was selling at 100 dollars per barrel.

“Of the N70 billion owed Julius Berger, we have paid N14 billion.

“If government was not owing Julius Berger in the past and we paid N14 billion to them, you would have seen them busy on the roads,” he said.

He said Change Starts with Me initiative launched by the Federal Government last Tuesday was to instil discipline and a change of attitude on leaders and the led.

According to the minister, such remained the basic foundation and the driving force for actualising socio-economic transformation.

“Nigerians have to change their attitude from the past; it is not only about the leaders but also the followers.

“This is the only way we can achieve progress, growth and development,” he said.

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