Experts want government to prioritise nation’s economic diversification

In view of the falling prices of oil in the global market, professionals have charged the Federal Government to prioritise diversification of the nation’s economy to avert crisis in the future.

A professor of Industrial Economics at the Imo State University, Owerri, Professor Andrew Igwenma, declared that Nigeria should look inwards because by 2030, Europe would stop using fuel-enabled vehicles.

He said, “The fall of oil price to near $10 per barrel is a sign of what is to come,” warning that pay cuts, mass unemployment and other devastating economic effects were imminent.

He urged those who have farms to go back to their farms and put them to good use with their children and cultivate one crop or the other, adding, ”Everyone should embrace farming. Politicians should cut their earnings, salaries and allowances.

“By 2030, no vehicle in Europe will use fuel and if the fall in oil prices continues below $10 per barrel), there will be near zero allocations, mass unemployment, crimes and problems of production.

“So we must encourage entrepreneurship, create environment for foreign partnership and mechanised farming in large quantities. We must look inwards because a time will come when it will be difficult to pay salaries because payment of salaries and less of capital projects will be an option.

Also, an Owerri-based Accountant, Caleb Amanaka, said the implication of the fall in oil price is that it will create a fragile economy, stressing, “Budget expectations will not be met and prices of goods and services will increase due to lack of liquidity.

“Companies’ cost of production will rise and demand for their products will fall, because there will be no money in circulation. It will get severe if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stalls the release of Foreign Exchange (Forex) and the Naira might suffer devaluation.”