…Says Nigeria’s economy drops by 60%

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Federal Government has countered the recent statement credited to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that it has appointed a new leader for the Boko Haram, stressing that there was nothing like that.
Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this yesterday, while speaking at the 12th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference (ANEC 2016), going on in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Mohammed said the Federal Government was fighting a battle to rout Boko Haram in the North East, adding that the Islamist group was on the run and “nothing will bring them back”.
The minister, who commended the Nigerian Guild of Editors for choosing a theme for the Conference, “Economic diversification:
Agriculture as option for a prosperous Nigeria”, disclosed that the nation’s oil earning has
crashed by 60 percent.
He pointed out that agriculture was one of the major sectors federal government has strived to develop to improve the economy of the country.
Mohammed said: “Other OPEC countries are faring better because they saved for the rainy day. Here in Nigeria, we simply failed to save
for the rainy season”.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike appealed to journalists to be objective in their reportage, particularly as it affects the rerun elections in the state.
Wike commended the organisers for choosing the topic, especially “when Nigeria’s future is bleak for as long as it remains a mono-product economy.
“I agree with the view that Nigeria’s economy is already diversified. What is not diversified is the country’s export revenue base from oil to agriculture, which presently accounts for less
than four percent of Nigeria’s total exports earnings and other viable sectors like manufacturing, solid minerals and tourism,” Wike noted.
“In these politically terrifying times, we urge everyone of you to be objective in your coverage and reportage of events and stand with the people of Rivers State in our quest for free and fair rerun elections, instead of serving as proxies for those elements and tendencies that are bent on holding us captives and depriving us of our freedoms and liberties”.
Former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, stressed the need to diversify the economy, maintaining that agriculture was the only option for food prosperity.
Earlier, the Acting President of the Guild, Funke Egbemode, noted that the country has enough land and manpower to make agriculture work.