Nigeria has woefully failed to capitalize on the earnings of the oil sector – Alake

Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake says Nigeria has failed to utilize revenues from the oil sector for many years when the economy was solely based on oil and petroleum revenues.

The Minister stated this during his presentation at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update to mark the first year in office of President Bola Tinubu held at the Radio House, Abuja.

He said the country had also failed to leverage its huge ‘petrodollars’ to develop other sectors of the economy, particularly the solid minerals industry and the agricultural sector, adding that while other countries had diversified their economies to generate more revenues in various sectors, Nigeria had not managed to do the same.

“According to my estimates, Nigeria has, over the decades, miserably failed to effectively utilize the revenues generated from the oil sector. And how did we not take advantage of it? We have failed to utilize the enormous amount of petrodollars that have flowed into this country’s coffers. We have not used this money to sufficiently create a very solid structural economy in other sectors.

“One of the most critical sectors that we have failed to address for decades is the solid minerals and agriculture sector. In other climates, oil money was used to develop other sectors of the economy, so that as revenues flowed from one, revenues also flowed from other key sectors, but our story was different,” he said. he said.

He, however, noted that since May 29, 2023, when the Tinubu-led administration came to power, there have been changes with the introduction of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which included a plan to diversify the economy.

The minister also said that other economies of the world were gradually moving away from the oil economy due to the effects of global warming and that Nigeria was doing the same

“As we say in our climate, the past is history, the future is the golden area that we predict. Therefore, since May 29 last year, after the resumption of our President’s term, there has been an essential pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which is dependent on the diversification of the economy away from oil. In any case, the reasons are not far-fetched, as the whole world is gradually moving away from oil, as I am sure you all know what is called global warming,” he stated.