Nigeria needs to tap into its enormous natural and human resources to redirect her economy away from dependence on oil revenue and create a broad economic base to harness it tax potential and domestic investments for sustainable growth.
This was the submission of political and business leaders yesterday in Lagos at a lecture on “Nigeria’s economy: Growth the only imperative” held to mark the investiture of the president of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe.
All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former managing director of AMCON Mustapha Chike-Obi; Mr Oluwaseyi Abe and other economic and investment experts agreed on the need to diversify the economy and seek alternatives that could guarantee long-term growth and stability, away from the fluctuations in oil prices.
Tinubu emphasised the important position of leadership and sustained investments in the economic recovery plan, noting that “any orchestra without a solid conductor cannot be successful”.
He added that investments in economic growth drivers and major infrastructure, such as electricity, are necessary to achieve other aspirations, such as domestic manufacturing base.
“Today, Nigeria is going through very serious economic challenges. We are blessed with human and materiel resources. The most important component of these resources is human resources; that is why change begins with us,” Tinubu said.
He challenged Nigerian professionals to think together and devise creative solutions that could help in solving some of the pressing national problems citing the bold pioneering initiative he coordinated with other professionals to champion the course of independent power production.
The former Lagos State Governor pointed out the need to explore all available options including coal and waste to generate powers.
Atiku highlighted the need to broaden and increase the efficiency of the tax collection system as a way to ensure Nigerian economy can sustain on the resources of her citizens.
“We can’t just borrow our way out of our oil addiction. Our governments must live on taxes, the way other democracies do. It will help us live within our means, as it means government can only spend what the people can bear. It will help ensure accountability as tax payers are more likely to ask for accountability when the money comes directly from their pockets,” Atiku said.
He noted that the constant complaints about oil price, pipeline vandals and lack of funds had tended to divert and distract from the real challenges the economy is facing, which majorly dwell on the unworkable economic model and need to restructure government finances so that politicians have a real incentive to create a more conducive business environment.
He said the main cause of Nigeria’s economic problem is the addiction to oil revenues and the dependence on central revenue generation.
“”It is, therefore, clear that rather than praying for higher oil revenues, we should seize the current opportunity to get over our addiction to oil revenues. Discovering new oil wells in the north or south is no substitute. Government should look to sustainable sources of revenue, mainly taxes, duties and other levies. And it can only enlarge the tax base by encouraging diverse economic activities right across the country and investing in human capital development to produce the entrepreneurs, inventors and workers of the future,” Atiku said.
According to him, rather we need federal government officials who are willing to step back and carefully work out how they can empower the private sector to grow the economy and create jobs. And I don’t mean selecting a few companies deemed worthy of government support. No, we need radical reforms that streamline our bureaucracy and eliminate rules and regulations that stifle innovation. We also need robust management processes that ensure that public money buys us better infrastructure, education outcomes and healthcare.
Abe said that if the federal government must sell national assets, that must be done through the nation’s capital market.
According to him, there is nothing wrong in selling the national assets especially those that are under performing to save the economy.
“The country will surely come out of the recession if actions and measures being taken by the government are properly executed. I see us coming out of recession latest from the first quarter of next year,” Abe said.
