Abuja – A don, Prof. Uche Nwogwugwu has advised the Federal Government to revive agriculture for increased productivity towards addressing the economic situation in the country.
Nwogwugwu, a lecturer of Economics at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the greatness of a country depended largely on its productive base.
“It is not really by devaluation; the wealth of every nation, the greatness of a nation lies in production.
“If the productive base is strong of course that means most of the things we source from outside will be made within.
“The demand for foreign exchange will be less, so the naira will automatically be strengthened, for now the scenario where the economy depends on only one product called oil, it cannot work.
“Naturally it means that whatever happens to oil affects the economy.
“But we know that before oil came, it was the agricultural sector that actually provided the platform for the growth and investment in oil.
“Even at the time when the oil boom was there, the revenue was diversified to ensure that other sectors are growing.
“The base or the one means to get Nigeria out is to diversify the economy.’’
He urged the government to diversify the economy by taking advantage of the opportunities in other sectors, especially manufacturing.
The don underscored the need for the government to formulate policies that would promote locally-made products to stop importation.
Nwogwugwu further advised government at all levels to increase the salaries of workers in tandem with the increase in the prices of commodities.
“And the inflation that we talk about is increase in prices of things that we consume.
“Remember that salaries are also prices; rents are also prices.
“So, prices means the income that all the factors in operation earn but right now the price that goes up is one-sided.
“The price of commodity maybe the price of rent, but the wages have not gone up; this informs the mismanagement of the system.
“If prices have to go up that means salary will go up as prices of commodities are going up.
“It is implicit because salary is the price of labour; commodity is you go to the market and the price rises; it is the price of commodity; if rent goes up, it is the price for land and house.’’
(NAN)