Don't Miss


Home   >   Business   >   Industries   >   Economy   >   Fall in oil Price offers opportunity for growth – Ambode

Fall in oil Price offers opportunity for growth – Ambode

By on April 25, 2016

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, at the weekend in far away United Kingdom, said the massive fall in oil prices in the international market is a blessing in disguise for Nigeria, just as he said the development is a tipping point not just for positive change but also to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Governor Ambode, who spoke on the theme: “Nigeria – Rising Above Crude Realities,” at the 3rd Annual London School of Economics Africa Summit, said if honestly handled, the fall in oil prices had actually offered the country the opportunity to deliver real growth, as the high price of oil which the nation hitherto enjoyed created a distorted economic structure.

He said though the fall has sharply reduced Nigeria’s growth rate, export earnings, foreign direct investment, and government revenues, but that the nation stand a lot to benefit positively from the downturn.

According to the Governor: “The high price of oil created a distorted economic structure, where it was more valuable to capture value from the oil stream than create value. The returns to oil went to a few, with a tiny trickle down system to keep the social peace, but the reality is we squandered the oil wealth and arrived to 2015 with poor infrastructure, a poor education system, and poor level of social development.

The drop in oil prices has revealed that the one dimensional model of our political economy has outlived its shelf life. We are forced by the slump to change the architecture of our political economy. That is the challenge before us,” he said.

The Governor said although Nigeria faces some tough time and tough choices with the new reality, he was hopeful that the low oil prices would serve as a tipping point for positive change, adding that the downturn was an avenue for both the leaders and citizens of Nigeria to address the sources of vulnerability in order to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Already, Governor Ambode said President Muhammadu Buhari has set the tone to enhance governance with focus on transparency and accountability, adding that such was needed at this critical point in time in the nation’s history.

He, however, expressed confidence that the country still has the financial band-width to immediately respond to the situation, adding that it was important to note that Nigeria was actually starting from a very good fiscal position.

 

 

[Punch]