June 29, 2024

Dele Alake, Minister for Solid Minerals Development, has criticized Nigeria’s historical mismanagement of revenue from the oil sector, emphasizing that the country failed to leverage its oil wealth to develop other crucial sectors such as solid minerals and agriculture.

Speaking during his presentation at the Ministerial Sectoral Update marking President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office, held at Radio House in Abuja, Alake lamented the missed opportunities to diversify the economy during decades of oil boom.

“In my own considered estimation, Nigeria over the decades failed woefully to efficiently utilize the revenue that accrued to us from the oil sector,” Alake said. “We failed to utilize the humongous amount of petrodollars that came into the coffers of this country. We did not utilize this money to sufficiently create a very solid structural economy in other sectors.”

Alake highlighted that while other nations used their oil revenue to bolster various sectors, Nigeria remained overly dependent on oil. “One of the most critical sectors that we failed to address over the decades is the solid mineral sector and agriculture as well. In other climes, the monies derived from oil were used to develop other sectors of the economy such that as revenue flowed in from one, revenues were also flowing from these other critical sectors, but our story was not like that,” he stated.

The minister acknowledged a shift since May 29, 2023, with the Tinubu administration’s introduction of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on economic diversification. He noted that global trends and the impact of climate change are driving countries away from oil dependency, and Nigeria is following suit.

“As we say in our own clime, the past is history, the future is a golden area that we are foretelling. So therefore, since May 29 last year, on the resumption of our President, there has been a major plank of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which is contingent on the diversification of the economy, away from oil. And in any case, the reasons are not far-fetched, because the whole world is moving away gradually from oil because I’m sure you all know what is called global warming,” Alake concluded.

The minister’s remarks underscore the urgent need for Nigeria to accelerate its diversification efforts and ensure sustainable development across various sectors.

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