Crude oil price crash a blessing – Gov. Ahmed; Constitutes security committee

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.

Governor 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.

Dr 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 the governor, Nigeria was passing through the danger of dependence on mono-culture economy and that the survival of its 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”, he said.

“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 continued.

Dr Ahmed said it was worrisome that Nigeria is a major importer of rice despite its potentials 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 sensitization 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”.

Dr 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 sectors’ 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 Nigeria 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.

In another development, the Kwara State Government, to strengthen security across the state, is setting up a 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.

Governor Ahmed stated this 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.

Dr 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.

Earlier, the State Chairman of the Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Usman Adamu praised the governor for carrying them along in his administration.

Alhaji Adamu sought for the government’s assistance to enable them overcome the problem of kidnapping of their kinsmen and the menace of cattle rustlers among others.‎

The chairman who lamented cattle breeders’ clashes with farmers in some parts of the state, appealed to the government to include them in its soft loan designed for Small and Medium Enterprises across the state with a view to giving them a sense of belonging.