Nigeria: Cleric Asks Jonathan to Explore New Sources of Revenue
Ebojele Akhere
9 June 2011
Benin — A call has been made to the Federal Government to urgently de-emphasize dependence on revenue from the oil and gas sector but to also develop other alternative revenue yielding sectors such as tourism and agriculture.
Delivering a sermon in Benin City, Edo state, recently, renowned cleric, Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Fire Ministries says the total dependence on revenue accruing from oil will not augur well for the country in the long run, adding that developed nations of the world achieved stable economy by exploring other sources of revenue to attain greatness.
He stated: "I want the President to explore other aspects of investment, we have this over dependence of getting money from oil, it's a natural thing that God has given us, let's see how we can make Nigeria a tourist centre, a place where we can actually raise our revenue. One of the major critical areas to attract investor is to look beyond oil."
He said President Goodluck Jonathan's presidency has offered fresh hope to Nigerians, advising him to ensure that Nigeria achieves stable power supply as a panacea to transforming other sectors of the economy.
The clergy stated that with a population of over 150 million Nigerians, the implication is that Nigeria provides an added advantage for any market to strive, noting that government must provide the enabling business environment for foreigners to come and invest in the economy.
The cleric stated: "Nigeria already has about 150 million people, South-Africa is less than 50 million but many people are investing there. God has given us the populace, but people will not invest when certain things are not in place, one of them is power. People want to invest in a place where they are sure of adequate power supply, so the president has to focus on power and security.
"From all indications, the president is focusing much on power, Jonathan's agenda is power, what about security? What Jonathan needs now, are economists who can sit him down and advise him on key issues on how to revitalize our economy, especially what it takes to attract investors to the country. By the time this is in view, Nigeria would be a place where you can literally pick gold from the streets," he added.
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