Yemisi Izuora
President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Remi Bello has challenged government on diversification of the economy saying time has come for government to seriously implement the policy.
Bello in his address at the opening of the 2015 Lagos International Trade Fair, advised that with the shrinking of oil price at the global market and its negative impact on the local economy, the non-oil sector remained the major driver of growth in Nigeria.
Bello said the theme of the fair, “Enhancing Value Addition In The Non Oil Economy” was carefully chosen to underscore the strategic importance of the sector in the face of Nigeria’s over dependence on oil and the urgent need to diversify the economy.
“We are all witnesses to the daunting economic challenges Nigeria is presently faced with due to the fall in global price of crude oil.
For a country like Nigeria that had over the years relied almost entirely on Oil to fund its economy, the implications are dire and frightening. Many states of the federation, are currently having challenges meeting their basic financial obligations” the president observed.
Citing instance with figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the LCCI president said that non-oil sector contributed about 90.20 percent to the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and grew by 3.46 percent in real terms in Q2 of 2015.
This development highlights the strategic role of non-oil sector as the bedrock of economic growth and development in Nigeria, he observed.
“It is therefore imperative that if the Nigerian economy is to survive and if our country is to achieve economic independence and industrialisation, there is an urgent need to diversify our sources of revenue.
We are a country rich in numerous natural resources. Our land mass is large enough to support massive agricultural development and we possess the human resources to power our industries” Bello argued.
In his remarks,Chief Bassey Edem, national president, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) commended LCCI for continuously growing the event and adding value to the economy.
Edem who was represented by Jani Ibrahim, Vice President of the body, said the fair has undoubtedly complimented the innovative spirit of the City of Lagos and its expansion has made it the biggest and largest trade fair in West and Central Africa, attracting an average of 500,000 visitors from over 18 countries annually.