Nigeria will survive without oil, can we please think? (1)

In the last three months, local governments, states and federal government officials have been at each others’ neck over short falls in revenue allocation from the federation account. The war of words is as a result of panic by state governments that they may not be able to meet their obligations to their workers if the federation account allocation continues to dwindle. The current panic stems from the fact that if the revenue shortfall from the federation allocation committee to states falls below some levels, it will result in many of the states not being able to pay their employees.
On two occasions, members of the committee from states have walked out on the Minister of State for Finance over the amount due for sharing. It is a shame that the committee members are not seeing the opportunity that the short-fall is offering them to think and act to remove their states from the shackles of oil. Before the discovery of oil, regions in the country had economy. They survived based on primary produce from the various regions. Nigeria will survive without oil. All that is required is for people to think. It is a sad story that the committee is not querying the Federal Government for not investing wisely, it is not asking for investment in the several minerals that dot the country, they simply bicker over sharing.

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