Towards reviving Nigeria’s economy

STEADILY, the oil price is rising again. It has recently risen to $50 per barrel, and with the coming together of oil producing nations to curb the glut, then there is hope that the price will rise further.

This is definitely good news for oil producing countries. For Nigeria, the rise in price is another opportunity for us to do things differently from how they were done when we had money; we should not abandon the achievements we have made in the last couple of months, and by achievements, I mean Nigerians have come to realise the need to diversify from oil.

We have also realised that patronising local products rather than imported ones will help the country develop.

Today, we based our budget on $38 per barrel, but in the event that oil surpasses this target in the coming months, then we should not just sit down, while thinking things have returned to normal; rather, the excess should be saved for viable projects.

Where we find ourselves today should serve as a lesson to us all, particularly the politicians.

This is a period when we should think about the country first; then we should work harder towards making the country the envy of others.

We have the human and natural resources to achieve the Nigeria of our dreams, unfortunately, due to laziness and greed, we lost our opportunity to make Nigeria one of the most prosperous nations on earth.

I believe the opportunity is coming again, and this time, we must not let it slip by. We must capitalise on the inflow of oil money to develop other sectors of the economy.

However, it is important  for the government to quickly strike trade deals with our oil buyers because other oil producers are also looking to strike such deals.

For example, India and China, the world’s biggest oil buyers, are currently working towards striking oil deals with oil-producers, particularly those that are suffering as a result of the slump in price of oil. Nigeria, Venezuela, Angola, Saudi Arabia, are few of the countries that are in a recession due to the oil glut, and these countries are already doing everything in their power to get buyers for their oil, so Nigeria should act fast in striking beneficial oil deals with our trading partners.

• Dr Taju Alalade,

Ilorin,

Kwara State.