The unrest that happened in the Arab world this earlier year is likely to repeat itself in Nigeria if jobs remain out of the reach of the young people and the disconnect between the government and the people is allowed to remain unattended.
Those are the words of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday in Abeokuta, at a workshop titled: “Economic Diversification and Revenue Generation”, organized by the government of Ogun State in conjunction with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
The former president said that the mass protests against governments in Arab nations happened because there was a “disconnect” between the “economic growth” and “employment generation” in those countries.
Recommending that the government should diversify the economy from being wholly dependent on oil, he advised the government to pay attention to “agriculture and agric-business as tools for employment generation” for the growing army of the unemployed.
Said Mr. Obasanjo, “It doesn’t matter which way you look at it today. People are now talking of Arab Spring. Some people will say, ‘Is Egypt not developing?’ On economic scale, after South Africa, it is Egypt in Africa. Has Libya not got resources?
“At one time with a population of about five million, Libya was producing as much oil as Nigeria was producing. But there was still discontent because, yes, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it may be growing well, but in terms of employment generation, there is disconnect.
“That is one of the elements that led to the Arab Spring. There are others, but let me take this one that is relevant to our discussion today. If this is the case, agriculture and agricultural business is important.”
The former President urged financial institutions, large scale farmers, small and medium scale farmers, researchers, retailers and distributors and governments to get involved in agric-business and agriculture to create jobs and food to enhance “national security and stability”.
He said: “We have been sharing resources from one commodity, which is oil. The only thing left is for us to be drinking oil, but we have it intoxicating us. We have been using oil as a means of uniting the country, developing and ensuring peace as well as the stability of the country.”
Obasanjo underscored the importance of exploring the four areas of generating revenue at both state and federal levels.
He said Nigeria’s population is large enough to satisfy the basic needs of the country if the four areas could be effectively explored.
“The commitment and passion for what people do matters in whatever success they want to achieve.
“No other means alone can give us food, except agriculture, and without food, there is no life. The population is increasing on a daily basis and we cannot do without food.
“We must first of all satisfy our need for food security and take it as a serious business in revenue generation and allocation.”
Mr Elias Mbam, the RMAFC Chairman, said the workshop is to enlighten stakeholders on alternative means of generating revenue.
Mbam said the commission is determined to sensitise the three tiers of government to shift focus from oil to other avenues of generating wealth.
Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Otunba Olusegun Runsewe described the workshop as timely and of utmost importance.
Runsewe said the nation will generate more resources from tourism, if the sector is well integrated into the national economy.
He reiterated NTDC’s determination to use cultural festivals as veritable means of generating funds and development.