Crude oil price crash a blessing, says Ahmed

Anti-cattle rustling committee takes off
Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has said that the slide in crude oil prices could translate into good tidings for Nigeria, if the country seizes the opportunity to develop its potentials in the non-oil sectors, to finance infrastructural development.

Ahmed said this when a team of Course 38 of Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Ilorin.

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government is to strengthen security across the state by setting up special security committee comprising security agencies and the Fulani community to check kidnapping, cattle rustling and other criminal activities among cattle breeders in the state.

The Governor announced the setting up of the security committee while receiving members of the Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, led by its State Chairman, Alhaji  Usman Adamu at the Government House, Ilorin.

Ahmed was of the view that a shift of focus on a single product economy through exploration and exploitation of potentials in agriculture and other natural resources will cushion the prevailing harsh economic realities in the country.

According to him, the survival of Nigeria’s economy lies in diversification.

“Most countries that developed anywhere in the world were those that had been challenged as  their ingenuity was brought to the fore. People who live in harsh environment have no option but to be innovative.

“No doubt, the time is now, we all stand up, take advantage of agriculture and use it to drive an economy that will employ and also feed Nigerians. This is the time for us to take that advantage”, the governor said.

Ahmed said it was worrisome that Nigeria is a major importer of rice, despite its potential of being the food basket of the West African Sub-region, adding that a proper synergy between the federal and the state governments must evolve on how to properly explore and exploit vast solid minerals in the country for economic growth.

The Governor called for extensive sensitisation of the citizenry that the national wealth of the country must come from a regenerative process through the development of primary products locally, adding that “we must take advantage of the land, the surface water, the sunshine and most importantly the population to transform this country into an economic hub”.

Ahmed, who commended the Armed Forces for protecting the territorial integrity of the country also called for their greater involvement in the nation building programmes under a democratic dispensation.

The Leader of the Course 38 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Brigadier General Moshood Jimoh said the team was in the state for a strategic study of the non-oil sector potentials of the State.

Brig-General Jimoh, who said the theme of the course was “Repositioning Nigeria’s non-oil sector as a major source of revenue”, said the country could no longer depend on oil for its survival, adding that governments at all levels should explore potentials in the oil sector to drive national economy.

On cattle rustling, Ahmed expressed concern over Farmers/Fulani clashes in the state, saying that the government was working round the clock to curtail the problem through the establishment of grazing reserves and stock routes across the state.

The Governor who promised to provide them with necessary social amenities to make life more meaningful, cautioned the farmers and  the herdsmen against any clash with host communities, adding that they should respect their hosts’ traditions and culture for peaceful co-existence.