ABUJA – The Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Country Review Report of Nigeria, has decried Nigeria’s reliance on oil as the main revenue source in spite of abundant solid mineral resources in the country.
This is contained in a statement signed by Sen. Ken Nnamani, Chairman of the National Steering Committee, and made available to newsmen on Saturday in Abuja.
The appraisal, according to the statement, is made after stakeholders participated in a validation meeting to consider and make their input into the draft report of the Second Peer Review of Nigeria.
The statement said the country has a paradox of extreme riches as well as mass poverty.
“In spite of the abundance of rich natural resources, the country’s over-reliance on its rich oil resource base has had an adverse effect on its economy.
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“This has resulted to the neglect of other sectors, high level corruption , poverty, high unemployment rates, poor infrastructure, low growth rates, and widespread insecurity and crime.’’
It emphasised the need to diversify the nation’s economy and create environment conducive for youth employment.
“ It is imperative that Nigeria consolidates its efforts towards diversification of the economy to reduce the impact of external shocks, encourage private sector-led development.’’
The National Steering Committee commended the idea of rebasing the nation’s economy but regretted that such economic growth did not translate to industrialisation.
The statement called for a more participatory and inclusive government, where citizens operate equal partners in the country’s governance processes.
It stressed the need to adopt a three-stage model of citizen engagement.
The stages, it said included information provision stage, a one-way relation where government produces and delivers information, consultation stage and a two-way relation where citizens provide feedback on issues defined by government.
The other, it said was the active participation stage, where citizens actively propose policy options and shape the policy dialogue but where government retains the responsibility for policy formulation and final decisions. (NAN)
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