Falling Oil Price Demands Nigeria Looks Inwards – Lawan

BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI, ABUJA –President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan says the falling price of crude oil globally is a wake up call for Nigeria to look inwards towards growing its economy.

He said current developments in the global oil market present a huge challenge for Nigeria to devise other means of growing the national economy.

Addressing members of the Council For New Nigeria (CFNN) who visited him in Abuja, Senator Lawan said with appropriate policies and programmes Nigeria has the potentials to grow into an economic powerhouse without oil.

“We have a challenge of oil price that is not good right now, but what about countries without oil? There are countries that do not have oil and yet they are making progress.

“May be this is the time to start thinking of how to take people out of poverty in a country without oil, so that we will not say because the oil price has gone down we cannot do anything.

“This is the time for us to come up with strategies that will not make us to go back on our reliance on oil even if the price improves.

“Let us think on how we can live as a country without oil. We need to think deeply at this moment. We have every reason not to think of oil again. Let it complement what we are going to achieve without it”, the Senate President said.

According to him, “It will take us a little suffering but there is a price for everything. People survived before oil in the past. Oil just came in and we mismanaged it. I think this is opportunity for us to do that.”

He dismissed the notion of Nigeria being rich due to its oil producing status, saying with the crude oil cost of production of US$30 per barrel, the nation realised only $5 per barrel if it is sold at $35.

Senator Lawan insisted that only the right policies and their proper implementation can help the Federal Government realise its dreams of taking 100 million people out of poverty in the next 10 years.

He pledged the Senate readiness to partner with any group or organisation willing to support the Federal government’s efforts at achieving its goals on poverty reduction and job creation in the country.

He therefore charged the government and relevant stakeholders to identify specific projects and programmes that will be used in taking people out of poverty for proper coordination and strict implementation.

In his remarks, leader of CFNN, Senator Abu Ibrahim said the organization was a support group by members of the All Progressive Congres (APC) initiated as part of efforts to back President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic agenda.

He said in line with its vision, the CFNN recently submitted to the President for his endorsement a strategic action plan on poverty eradication and job creation.