Council Harps On Non-oil Export To Grow Economy

CHANNELS TV

Nigeria Export Promotion Council says the time is apt for Nigeria to rethink on its export strategies to replace oil as the major source of revenue.

The Council believes that the volatile nature of the price of crude required that Nigeria should look at exporting non-oil resources to grow the nation’s economy that is purportedly heading towards recession.

This emphasis on the need for further shift from crude oil as the nation’s economic mainstay was made when Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State met with the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo at Government House in Umuahia, the capital of the State in the Southeast.

Full Industrialisation

Mr Awolowo was in the state to intimate the Governor on the systematic plan in place to achieve zero oil export in Nigeria.

He told the Governor that Nigeria was looking for $30 million in non-oil sector export to secure the Nation’s future and this, according to him, would involve full industrialisation.

The Governor, who agreed that the crusade, if properly managed, would take Nigeria out of its present economic situation, expressed worry at the attitude of Nigerians who prefer foreign goods to those locally produced.

He applauded the ED/CEO of Nigeria Export Promotion Council for the revolution, hinting that the country could do better economically if conducive environment was in place for the manufacturing sector to thrive.

Governor Ikpeazu also pledged that the State would cue in the agenda, with Abia State leading in that regard as a potential hub of Africa.

Over 70 percent of Nigeria’s revenue comes from sales of crude oil, while solid minerals and agriculture sector, which had been the nation’s economic mainstay, have been abandoned to fallow.

Diversifying The Nation’s Economy

Most Rice farmers in Nigeria rely on crude means of processing produce

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that the Federal Government would collaborate with states to strengthen mining activities.

Fayemi made the statement during the National Consultative Meeting on Validation of Roadmap for the Solid Minerals Sector in Kaduna State held in May.

He was optimistic that the collaboration would form a holistic platform for diversifying the nation’s economy.

The government is also looking to increase rice and wheat production for self sufficiency and subsequent exportation.