Oil denied Nigerians critical thinking for development ---Osinbajo
(Nigeria) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that having an easy source of revenues denied Nigeria the opportunity to engage in the critical thinking and prioritization that usually drives development.
Osinbajo spoke at the launching of the Standard Operating
Procedures, SOP and Port Services Support Portal, PSSP, for Nigerian Ports
hosted by the Ministry of Transportation in Abuja on Thursday with other top
government and private sector functionaries including Transportation Minister
Rotimi Amaechi in attendance.
He said the country must reduce the current dependence of
the federal and the state governments on the ritual sharing of revenues from
oil.
According to the Vice President, doing so would require
alternative revenue sources and diversification of our economic structures in
terms of the drivers of our economic activity and sources of foreign exchange,
while hailing the Ministry of Transportation for initiating the SOPs and PSSPs,
which are electronic-based monitoring which would now govern the entire port
operations in the country.
By adopting the new technology-based monitoring, the
ministry had set the nation on the path of enhancing its ports capacity of
ensuring free flow of import and export, reducing corruption in port procedures
and adopting the global best practice, Prof. Osinbajo said. He advised all port
operators to support the new system for effectiveness of ports operations,
increased revenue, enhancement of diversification programme of government and
curbing corruption.
The Vice President observed that using technology-driven
products is the way forward in enhancing service delivery in both private and
public sectors. ``Everyone in the private and public sector must invest their
commitment in the successful implementation of the SOPs and PSSPs by following
the procedure, not engaging in corrupt practices and putting an extra effort to
ensure that the objectives are accomplished.
``We must understand and accept that nation-building is a
collective responsibility and that the private sector has an important role to
play in supporting every effort of government to achieve the building of a
strong nation,’’ Osinbajo added.
He pledged the administration's resolve to continue
encouraging a competitive business environment characterized by sufficient and
efficient policies to sustain economic growth to further retain and attract
local and foreign investments in Nigeria.
Prof Osinbajo said
that a key component of this administration’s change agenda lay in the
development of a diversified non-oil economy
adding that to achieve the target, the ports must play their role in
making it easier to trade across borders as well as drive Nigeria’s trade
policy.
The Vice President remarked that many countries in the world
had proved that without natural resources, the efficient management of import
and export activities could greatly improve national economies. ``Many
countries have proven that without depending on any natural resources, but
simply relying on efficient procedures for undertaking Port activities, any nation
can position itself as a major hub and can earn significant resources by just
being more efficient,`` he noted.
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