As much as 52 percent of the nation’s natural resources are not being harnessed for national development, Abdulrauf Sanya Ogunsakin, an associate professor of economics, Ekiti State University, says.
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Ogunsakin noted that the non-utilisation of the nation’s abundant natural resources for the benefit of its citizens has led to poverty in the land.
He made the remark while delivering a lecture titled “Effective management of natural resources for sustainable economic development in Nigeria: impediment and antidotes” at the 8th annual symposium organized by the Muslims Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) at Auchi, Edo State.
“Nigeria has abundant resources such as crude oil, gold, tin, silver, bitumen, coal, limestone, Iron- ore, lead, zinc, columbite, marble, vast arable land, water, and suitable climatic condition, but it is only harnessing 48 percent of the resources.
“From the available records on macro-economic performance by World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Reserve Bank, among others, countries with natural resources do not seem to have any significant growth advantage over those with little or none of the major resources,” he said.
He, however, lamented that the East African countries, poor in terms of natural resources, were out-performing Nigeria rich in natural resources.
Ogunsakin explained that a structural shift in the economy and inadequate commitment to program implementation were some of the reasons Nigeria had not achieved sustainable development.
He opined that Nigeria has a well-balanced economy with five principal export commodities such as cocoa, palm oil, rubber, groundnut, and cotton.
In his remark, Ibrahim Shekarau, the former governor of Kano State noted that over-dependence on crude oil has robbed the nation of the opportunity to develop and translate its abundant natural resources for the economic good of the people.
Shekarau, now a serving senator, speaking on the topic, “Harnessing the natural endowment for the sustainable and formidable economic development of Nigeria,” said that for Nigeria to develop it must move away from over-dependence on crude oil.
“For Nigeria to develop, we must move away from oil to agriculture for sustainable development. Our population serves as a huge market for which homemade products can find a ready market without having to rely on a foreign country to patronize our products,” he said.
He, however, identified corruption, lack of qualified personnel to develop and implement alternative technology, brain drain, poor educational system, as the bane of sustainable economic development in Nigeria.
