Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said that with its focus on non-oil exports coupled with the Zero-Oil Plan actively promoted by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nigeria is on the right path to economic diversification.
Osinbajo made this asseertion on Thursday while receiving a delagation from the NEPC led by its outgoing Executive Director/CEO, Segun Awolowo at the Presidential Villa a delegation.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, in a statement titled, ‘With focus on non-oil exports, economic diversification on course’ quoted the Vice President as saying; ‘We are set on the right path and I like the fact that we are focused on non-oil exports, and we are facing the challenges and we are facing them head-on.
‘In the next few years, those of us who are policymakers and looking at the future, must, today, have a plan. In fact, we have set ourselves on an inevitable course of a zero-oil plan.’
He then commended the outgoing NEPC CEO for his foresight, stating that “I want to commend you for your foresight for putting in place a plan that is very well-structured and detailed.
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‘It is very important to note that we are certainly getting away from the oil and gas era. In the past, we used to think that it will still take a while but today, with the circumstances and all of the various factors around the world less dependence on oil, Climate Change, and COP, it is inevitable.’
He added that ‘public investments from the EU, from the multilateral organisations for oil and gas, are fizzling out.’
Speaking on the efforts put in place by the NEPC to ensure that the objectives of government were realised, the Vice President noted that ‘the Export Expansion Facility Programme is a natural progression for the Zero-Oil Plan.’
‘If you say you have a zero-oil plan, then you must have a way of improving exports in particular because oil is our major foreign exchange earnings. So, if you are going to replace it, then you must have a robust plan, and I think that the EEFP is an incredibly wide door for exports in our country,’ the Vice President added.
Osinbajo however tasked stakeholders in the sector to brace up for the challenges ahead, stating that ‘the years to come will test our resolve even more because we are going to be challenging ourselves the more.’
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK