COVID-19 : NEED TO DIVERSIFY OUR ECONOMY…Economist

Since  Nigeria’s independence  in 1960, the  government  had consistently  relied on oil  revenue as the primary source of income. However the collapse in oil price since the advent  of  COVID-19 pandemic to below thirty dollars per barrel, had decimated  government  revenue.

Speaking  with Radio Nigeria on the development, an Economist, Mr Udorji Braveson while frowning at over dependence  on  oil revenue, urged citizens to take advantage  of the nation’s arable land for agriculture. He noted that before the discovery  of oil in Nigeria,  agriculture  was the mainstay  of the economy.

In the same vein,  Mr Ebuka Chikwe was of view that the coronavirus  pandemic and the dwindling oil price had further reinforced the need to diversify the nation’s economy. He further pointed out that the country is blessed with fertile land hence the need to embark on massive farming.

For Mr Ugonna  Ogochukwu, the youths should be encouraged  to venture into  farming as a  way of decreasing the  rate of unemployment  in the country.  

Other respondents were of the opinion that if the nation’s economy was diversified into agriculture it would boost food sufficiency, thereby ensuring food security  of its citizenry.