By DAUD OLATUNJI
ABEOKUTA— FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, warned the Federal Government of the possibility of having what he called “Arab spring” experience in Nigeria if the rate of “unemployment,” is not checked.

Obasanjo who spoke at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, during a workshop on ‘Economic Diversification and Revenue Generation,’organised by the Ogun State government and Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, lamented the soaring rate of unemployment, which he said agriculture could solve.

While citing some of the Arab countries that had experienced the wrath of their people over unemployment, the elder statesman said Egypt and Libya witnessed the Arab spring in the Middle East despite the fact that their economy did experience growth.

Obasanjo

He said: “In the Arab countries where there were mass civil protests against the governments, this happened because there was a disconnect between the economic growth in those nations and employment generation for their people. It doesn’t matter which way you look at it today. People are now talking of Arab spring and 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 Products, GDP, it may be growing well but in terms of employment generation, there is disconnect. That is one of the elements that led to 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.”

Calls for investments in agric-business

Obasanjo said serious attention must be paid to agriculture and agric-business by all tiers of governments in the country as a tool for employment generation for the unemployed Nigerians so that the Arab Spring does not rear its ugly head in the country.

He, however, urged financial institutions, large scale farmers, small and medium scale farmers, researchers, retailers, distributors and governments to get involved in the use of agric-business and agriculture to create jobs and food in order to enhance “national security and stability.

He lamented that for too long, the nation has been mobilizing and sharing revenue from only one source – oil, and that the time has come for governments to devise ingenious ways of expanding their revenue base by venturing into agriculture, tourism, industrialization and manufacturing.

While declaring the workshop open, Governor Ibikunle Amosun called for a review of the revenue sharing formula, saying 26 per cent allocation for states is too small for any state to engage in developmental projects.

Amosun said his administration would devise more ingenious avenues of generating additional income through agriculture and industrialization to create jobs and make more income available for the people. He expressed the optimism that a time would come when Ogun State “will care less about what comes from the Federal Government,”saying the government would create structures that could help accomplish that dream.