Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has stressed the need for Nigeria to increase its exportation capacity to revamp its economy.
The governor, who stated this as the guest lecturer at the 36th convocation ceremony of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos, noted that the crisis of foreign exchange is one of the fundamental issues at the root of the nation’s lingering economic situation.
Sanwo-Olu’s lecture on “Developing Exportable Alternatives for Nigeria’s Economic Recovery” explained that overdependence on foreign exchange has done far more harm than good to the nation’s economy andpeople’s mindsets.
He commended President Bola Tinubu’s administration for laying the foundation for improving export capacity to reposition the Nigerian economy.
“This crisis takes two main forms: the monopoly of crude oil and gas on our foreign exchange earnings. Our over-dependence in this way has done far more harm than good to the economy and our mindsets as a people.”
Sanwo-Olu noted that to overcome the problem, Nigeria needs to pay more attention to exporting products, saying, “As we gradually but steadily make our way into the phase of recovery, one of the most important things we can do as a people and a nation is to increase the focus on our export capacity and potential.”
According to him, Nigeria should focus on exporting processed materials rather than raw materials, saying that is the only way to take better advantage of her exports.
“Now, there’s a caveat here. I do not mean raw materials and unprocessed goods when I speak about agricultural exports. If there is one lesson we have learnt over many decades, there is no value or pride in exporting raw materials to the world.
“The countries that prosper from natural resources are the ones that process and add value to it before exporting it. In addition, often these are not even the countries in which those natural resources are to be found most abundantly.’’
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