Lagos—Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, Ms. Arunma Oteh, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to diversify the country’s economy from oil in order to boost its earnings.

Oteh, made the call at the Philip Asiodu Lecture Series with the theme; ‘The Proper Role of Oil in the Context of Accelerating Growth and Development in Nigeria’ in Lagos.

Merits of diversification

According to her  “Diversifying Nigeria’s economy away from oil is urgent for two reasons. First, despite Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth over the past decade, it lags behind on human development and competitiveness indicators. A broader based, more inclusive economy is needed to effectively transmit as much oil wealth as possible into improving the wellbeing of all Nigerians.

Over dependence on oil revenues

“Second, Nigeria’s over dependence on oil revenues for its economic growth and government budget makes it highly susceptible to oil price volatility. Furthermore, the future of oil industry will  be shaped by climate change and environmental concerns which require a global transition from fossil fuels to a cleaner, renewable and efficient energy sources.”

She stated that the role of oil in accelerating Nigeria’s development is to provide it with financial resources to make strategic investments to diversify its economy.  “Success requires a strategic vision of the future, establishing sound development plans to achieve that vision, effective implementation, and on-going monitoring of the implementation to ensure that the desired objectives are achieved.

Strategic vision

Nigeria must establish a strategic vision of what it wants the economy to be in future and continuously re-evaluate that vision in the face of a rapidly evolving world”  she noted.

She stated that the development of the country should imply excellence on fronts that will shape the quality of life and welfare of the people, stressing that  “despite the high growth of the  Gross Domestic Product, GDP in the past decade, it still suffers from sustained underdevelopment evidenced by ‘less-than-adequate performance’ in human development and economic indices, “including high income equality, security challenges in the Niger Delta, violence in the parts of the North east and mismanagement of public revenues.”

Oil sector challenges

According to her  “The oil sector challenges include pro-cyclical fiscal policies, weakening of the agricultural sector, and governance that has been characterized by weak institutions and lack of transparency.”

The World Bank VP stated that listing of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) besides growing the capital market; it would also be an important way to strengthen accountability and transparency of managing state-owned enterprise.