Buhari has already diversified the Nigerian economy- Lai

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari has already diversified the Nigerian economy.

He pointed to Nigeria’s exiting of recession as proof that some other critical sectors like agriculture and mining were now contributing significantly to the economic base of the nation.

Mohammed claimed Nigeria exited recession not because of the rise of crude price in the international market, but the contribution of the mining and the agriculture sectors to the economy as managed by the Buhari administration.

The minister said this on Thursday when he received a delegation of permanent secretaries led by Winfred Oyo-Ita, Head of Service of the Federation.

He also stated that, contrary to the belief by some, the “herdsmen clashes” have nothing to with religion or ethnicity.

He revealed that the clashes between farmers and herdsmen date back to 1948.

Mohammed said the clashes were “an environmental situation”, and accused politicians of trying to exploit it for selfish ends.

Read also: Head of Service suggests private media sabotage reason Buhari’s ‘marvelous job’ underreported

“The farmers-herders clash is neither religious or ethnic, I think politicians and other people who don’t understand it are trying to make it look like Christian-Muslim, north-south. It is simply an environmental situation and we must see it in that light.

“The farmland that belongs to one person will have to be shared by three of four persons. Today, Lake Chad has shrunk to 2,500 kilometers before then (1963) Lake Chad used to support 35 million lives from Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria – they were farming, fishing and doing irrigation on the same water. When that water lost 90 percent of its surface people had to move south.

“This is the whole issue of the farmers, herdsmen clashes, it is not Christian or Muslim. It has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with ethnicity. The earlier we realise that the better. The first herdsmen, farmers clash was in 1948, it didn’t start yesterday, so please let us change this narrative.

“Frankly speaking we cannot repair the damage that has been done in over 16 years in three years.

“We have diversified the economy, we went out of recession not because of the increase in the price of crude but because of agriculture and mining, these are things you need to share regularly if not they will accuse you because you are the government,” Mohammed said.

 

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