The executive governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode has stated that the recent fall in oil prices is actually a blessing in disguise for Nigerians. He said that the situation could be the tipping point that would lead to sustainable growth in Nigeria.
Governor Ambode, who spoke on the theme: “Nigeria – Rising Above Crude Realities,” at the 3rd Annual London School of Economics Africa Summit, said if honestly handled, the fall in oil prices had actually offered the country the opportunity to deliver real growth, as the high price of oil which the nation hitherto enjoyed created a distorted economic structure.
He said while the oil price fall has been detrimental to Nigeria, it provides a real springboard to really carry on and develop.
Ambode said “The high price of oil created a distorted economic structure, where it was more valuable to capture value from the oil stream than create value. The returns to oil went to a few, with a tiny trickle down system to keep the social peace, but the reality is we squandered the oil wealth and arrived in 2015 with poor infrastructure, a poor education system, and poor level of social development.
“The drop in oil prices has revealed that the one-dimensional model of our political economy has outlived its shelf life. We are forced by the slump to change the architecture of our political economy. That is the challenge before us,”
He said that while the country might suffer in the interim, that if well managed, the situation could turn out to be a positive.
The Governor said that the Buhari administration has already done a good job in terms of transparency and accountability and he was confident of Nigeria’s ability to come out of this tough time even better than before.