By Japhet Alakam

As part of efforts at leaving a sustainable and enduring legacy of Governor Uduaghan, the Delta Board of Internal Revenue, DBIR, has come out with a new book titled Delta Beyond Oil. In the 253 pages book, the board ingeniously demonstrated and translated a major policy of the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan – DELTA BEYOND OIL, DBO.

This book which comes in two volumes has translated the theme of Delta Beyond Oil, DBO, from the theoretical to practical terms. It stretches its narration from the evolution of the state through its component parts, natural resources, its needs and wants to a missionary call for the people to think and live lesser on oil and look at other revenue/income generating sectors of the economy.

The unique book which have attracted the great attention is already in the school curriculum of Delta State, will be studied in schools; secondary and tertiary apart from the general readership The book is obviously advocating a wake-up call on the younger generation, to know and understand the history and operations of the oil industry and what it has done or failed to do for the society.

The revenue from oil has been the mainstay of the economy to the level of ninety percent plus and this has given Nigeria the unenviable brand of a mono-revenue nation. Before oil, the country, first of all, studiously concentrated on agriculture and its allied businesses. And it then, took to another sector – manufacturing, nearly as seriously as it did to agriculture which was then the king-of-the-economy. The country ran well and hopes were high.

Then came the first oil find at Oloibiri then in Eastern Nigeria and later in Rivers State and finally in Bayelsa State. Thus oil bulldozed its oily ways not only into the heart of the economy but became the only resource that attracted the desired attention. The continuous revenue from oil was at once stupendous and blinded the country to its adverse realities.

The Head of State, General Gowon, at this time of plenty, did not only prosecute a civil war with the enormous proceeds from oil revenue but once exclaimed that the problem of Nigeria was not that of cash but on how to spend it. During this era, it did not occur to them that the oil market and prices would eventually plummet far below budget benchmarks and this made the country not to heed to series of warning signals.

The successive governments of Nigeria failed, so to say, to either hear the sounds of the wailing whistles or heard but kept mute. But the 2014 geometric plunge in the price of oil from a hundred dollars plus to the fifty dollars range, it became clear that something drastic must be done by way of diversification.

It is noteworthy that before the last death knell to the reliance on oil revenue came through, thorough and clear, Governor Uduaghan saw through it. And in the book he was referred to as the man “…who saw tomorrow.” Continuing, the book credited the foresighted Governor further: “This dire situation must have stirred the ingenuity of the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, to espouse the philosophy of Delta Beyond Oil, which is the focus of this book.”

This prophetically proactive call from the Governor whose state is the second largest producer of oil after Rivers State, may not have taken many by surprise because of his track records. He saw through the coming dangers. Governor Uduaghan, therefore, designed, perfected and began his gospel of Delta Beyond Oil before the last fall in oil price. His earlier call and step definitely placed Delta State ahead of the danger.

Today, while other states in the federation are still grappling with the disquieting new realities of reversals in their revenue accruing from the federation account, Governor Uduaghan is certainly a head start ahead of other states. He began the architecture of building the needed infrastructure for the diversification of the economy. “He (Governor) noted that the best way to attract and retain investors was to provide the needed infrastructural base for industrial development.”

The deliberate intervention of Delta Board of Internal Revenue, DBIR, in enunciating and eventually evolving an all-time-relevant-study in the diversification of the economy was treated in the book. As the Chief Taxman of the state, Honourable Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, has no doubt, reasoned futuristically that the diversification of the economy will inexorably lead to giant leaps in the economic activities of the state and then to more taxable sectors.

As a book crafted by ten seasoned academics, it has lived up to its billing. It is sure to delight readers as a treasure trove that will enrich their ways of thinking and securing a pile of the economy outside the oil industry.