Economic Diversification Very High On Our Agenda – Buhari

Source: thewillnigeria.com

BEVERLY HILLS, August 27, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday in Abuja that Nigeria, under his leadership, will work more closely with other countries facing the challenge of falling oil prices  to rapidly move away from dependence on crude oil exports for economic survival.

Speaking at an audience with the new Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Mr. Fahad Abdullah Sefyan, President Buhari , according to a statement signed by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, affirmed his administration’s commitment to  faster development of Nigeria’s non-oil sectors and the speedy diversification of the country’s economy.

 ''For more than 30 years, Nigeria has depended on oil as its major source of revenue at the expense of agriculture and the non-oil sector which could be the mainstay of our economy.

“As oil exporting countries facing similar challenges due to the down turn in the international price of crude oil, we should be working closer together.”

“Saudi Arabia has done excellently in manufacturing, building of infrastructure and exploration of solid minerals and I believe that greater bilateral cooperation between us in this regard will be mutually beneficial,” the President was quoted as telling  the new Saudi Ambassador.

He added that in keeping with his commitment to the accelerated development of Nigeria’s non-oil sector, the Federal Government  will ensure that all pending agreements on trade and economic relations with other countries are speedily concluded  and signed.

President Buhari, who also received the new Ambassador of Turkey,  Mr. Hakan Cakil, and the new Ambassador of Sudan, Mr. Ibrahim Bushra Mohammed, commended Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sudan for their cooperation with  Nigeria in the war  against terrorism.

The President restated his conviction that the war against terrorism in Nigeria and other countries can only be won with greater and more effective international collaboration.

All the new ambassadors assured President Buhari that they would work very hard to boost trade and economic relations between Nigeria and their respective countries.