Lai mohammed: Why Nigeria’s Economy Is In Recession

The minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Tuesday said Nigeria’s over-dependence on oil is to blame for the recession the nation’s economy is passing through.

Mr. Mohammed made the assertion at a news briefing at his residence in Oro, Irepodun Local Government Area in Kwara State.

He said the prevailing economic situation was not about trading blames,as “those who understand knew that this recession was bound to happen in such circumstance”.

He said the crash in global price of oil exposed the country’s defective economic policy, with oil accounting for over 60 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The minister said the situation was further compounded by inadequate reserve to cushion the effect of oil “misfortunes’’ on the country.

“We have a very defective economic structure, which depended largely on a single platform of crude and fuel.

“Crude oil accounts for between eight and 12 per cent of our GDP and another 53 per cent of the GDP which we call non-oil, unfortunately also depend on the same oil.

“When the price of oil now crashes in the international market, definitely you are bound to have this kind of shock in the economy,” he said.

He decried the citizens’ preference for imported goods to local products, saying that substantial amount of the country’s foreign exchange earnings was being expended on importation of goods and services.

Mr. Mohammed also blamed past administrations’ inability to achieve massive investment on infrastructure to assist manufacturing industries and boost agriculture production for part of current problem.

Source: Media Nigeria