DACCIMA boss tasks FG on full-scale diversification of economy

Mr Simon Asite, President, Delta Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (DACCIMA), on Wednesday said that full diversification of the economy would usher in prosperity.

“The Federal Government must implement its policy on diversification of the economy to the letter because such will make us ultimately well-off,” Asite said in Warri.

He said the global trend nowadays was for countries not to operate an economic system built around a single source of revenue.

“The time for our government to divest is now that crude oil has taken a nosedive in the international market and our Naira is losing its value against the Dollar by the day.

“We should actually be looking inward to develop our local commodities, create value chains for them and package these products to meet international standards.

“This recipe for our economic prosperity will create employment, improve the economy and make our currency valuable against other foreign exchange,” he said.

The DACCIMA boss said that Nigeria was endowed with abundant mineral resources of which their exploitation would only sustain a favourable international rating for the economy.

He said the disposition toward extraction, processing and development of other resources excluding oil with a view to optimise their usefulness would also be a boost to the country’s industrilisation.

He urged government at all levels to always engage the services of technocrats to achieve economic and social inclusion and the enrichment of the people.

“The Federal Government should employ serious-minded private sector operators that can drive its policies on diversification of the economy and sustain growth,” he said.

 Asite said that government’s embargo on the importation of certain products like tooth picks and poultry products would help to boost their local production.

 He said that governments’ intervention funds for small and medium scale enterprises would reach the target groups and be more beneficial if they were channelled through the organised private sector.

“Chambers of commerce, industry, mines and agriculture as well as other associations in the private sector provide buffer against miscarriage of policies.

“And more importantly, these associations have direct access to operators that government will require to work with as the change managers of our economy.

“These intervention funding policies of the non-oil sector will continue to be a mirage to their objectives if governments do not involve entrepreneurs and the organised private sector in their implementation,” he said.