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Represented by Special Adviser on Economic Matters, Adeyemi Dipeolu, Osinbajo said Nigeria and the West African sub-region have begun to indicate willingness to tackle the problems of poverty and underdevelopment.He noted that export of crude oil rose to 2.28million per day in the mid 2011, but is now down to about 1.4million and has been fluctuating due to restiveness and activities of the Niger Delta Avengers.
“In the past few decades, oil and gas has, almost to the exclusion of other sector, dominated the country’s economy. It provides over 70 per cent of resources of the three tiers of government and over 90 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings,” he said.
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Osinbajo noted that the sector is a global one that is largely independent of other sectors, relies on technology and contributes very little directly to employment in the country.
He said that in spite of its vast oil and gas resource, Nigeria is a poor country and is ranked 153rd out of 187 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index.
“Efforts to find solutions to this debilitating situation are in the recent sustainable development plans for Nigeria, which began under the late General Sanni Abacha regime.”He said the Buhari administration has identified agriculture and solid minerals sectors as best suited to diversification of the economy.
