#3. Competence must be gained in the managing of Nigeria’s resources and wealth. We have already recorded huge success in squandering our riches since the discovery of oil in its commercial quantity in the early 1970s. Other oil rich countries e.g. Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar whose visionary leaders clearly understood the dangers of over dependence on oil took resolute actions to diversify and modernize their economies and adequately prepare their citizens for the 21st century.
We must see oil reserves as temporary and collectively owned windfall that will not last long. We must not spur consumption any longer. Rather, the earnings from oil should be used to insulate the country from storms of the global economy and provide a thick cushion for the rainy days vis-à-vis investing heavily in other sectors of the economy especially agriculture which from my personal research* is the only sector that has the capacity to pro-actively eradicate unemployment and gash poverty from the bud in Nigeria.
Seun Oyeniran.
* Seun Oyeniran (2008): "Agricultural Marketing as a Panacea to Sustainable Agricultural Development in Nigeria” Paper Presentation at late Prof. B. Olufokunbi Inter-University Competition. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
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