Former Special Adviser to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, has said the economy of Nigeria remained in crisis because of neglect of agriculture.
Alkali said until Nigeria faced crude oil money, the country was economically viable and productive through exports of agricultural products.
The Professor of Political Science said had Nigerian leaders used crude oil money to grow agriculture sector, economic crisis facing the country would have been in check.
“The Nigerian Economy has been going into a deeper and deeper crisis. This fact is known to everyone both within and outside Nigeria and does not require long explanation. Nonetheless, it is important to mention even in brief the background to some of these problems.
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“It is a well known fact that until Nigeria discovered petroleum oil, agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy characterized by huge production of food and export crops. Nigeria was a leading producer and exporter of groundnuts, cocoa, Palm kernels, hides and skins.
“The discovery of petroleum oil changed all these. Nigeria’s oil export earnings grew steadily and over the years agriculture began to decline. Even though the contribution of agriculture to GDP in Nigeria remains high, exports of traditional agricultural products began to decline, giving way to petroleum exports.
“But instead of Nigeria to use oil to get out of oil, the country went deeper and deeper into dependence on oil exports earnings whose price was and still is determined by external forces of demand and supply.,” Prof Alkali said.
Former National Chairman of New Nigeria Peoples Party added that neglect of agricultural sector turned Nigeria into a dumping ground for foreign goods.
“With huge export earnings accompanied with the decline of agriculture and in the absence of a coherent industrialization policy, Nigeria became a massive importer of goods and services including food. Indeed, Nigeria became a dumping ground for all kinds of foreign goods,” he added.
