Seek alternatives to oil now, Osinbajo warns Nigeria

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has expressed worries over the country’s over dependence on crude oil as the main stay of the nation’s economy, saying the profitability of Nigeria’s oil is gradually declining.

Osinbajo spoke during the second national council on Niger Delta meeting held in Akure, stating that some countries have even discovered “alternatives for oil” and as such, they would no longer need to patronise Nigeria’s major source of revenue.

The Vice President, spoke against the backdrop of plans by many developed countries to phase out cars that run on petrol and diesel in a no-distant future and the huge threat it poses to Nigeria’s oil dependent economy.

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“Many countries are getting alternatives to oil, the development which would make the resource unprofitable in a few years,” he said.

“The future of oil is declining, which is why it is the duty of all stakeholders to explore all the opportunities now and to ensure we are not constantly battling with the security of the pipelines we should have used the resources to develop other potentials of the region.

“It is the duty of this council to ensure we provide the road map for the future that will not necessarily depend on oil. It is obvious that oil is not going to last forever. As a matter of fact everything that we see showed that oil is declining very quietly.

“There is no reason why we should not develop other potentials apart from oil in the region. If we can do this the full potential of the region will be fulfilled and our collective vision will be realised.”