National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has assured Nigerians that the hardship they are currently experiencing will be the last one they will ever go through.
He hinged his confidence on the hard work being put in by President Muhammadu Buhari and his team to ensure that Nigeria is no longer over-reliant on oil.
A crash in crude oil prices from over a $100/barrel some few years ago to a 13-year low of below $30 in February 2016, saw Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy shrink, with the country entering “technical recession” and being leap-frogged by South Africa as Africa’s largest economy.
The development served as a wake-up call for Nigeria, which had paid lip-service to diversifying its economy.
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This much was reaffirmed by Mr. Odigie-Oyegun yesterday as he said many states can no longer meet their financial and other obligations because of the unexpected collapse in the price of crude oil.
Speaking at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja during a brief event organized to mark his 77th birthday by his colleagues in the National Working Committee (NWC), the former Edo State Governor said God brought President Buhari and APC at the “critical and tough time” when the economy had collapsed to tackle the challenges and take critical decisions that would help revive Nigeria.
“This is the last economic challenge this nation will face, and Mr. President and the APC are determined to ensure Nigeria’s is no longer a mono-economy. He is laying solid foundation to ensure all resources that God endowed this nation are beneficial”, he assured.
