Senator Akpabio will not play politics with the economy.
On Sunday, March 27, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio was in Arochukwu, Abia State to attend the thanksgiving service of his colleague and brother, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa. As is customary with Journalists, after the event he was cornered for a spot on interview. When he was asked if he believed the present administration had what it takes to lift Nigeria out of the present economic doldrums, Senator Akpabio responded frankly that Nigerians should not play politics with the economy. The interview is correctly reproduced in NEW TELEGRAPH of Thursday, March 31, 2016. In his exact words:
“Well, you have seen that the economic down turn affects not just Nigeria but the whole world; it's a global affair. And Nigeria's problem had been that we had depended more on one economic source and that is the crude oil. So, the volatility of crude oil price affects our economy, when the price goes up Nigeria will rejoice, when the price goes down Nigeria will groan.
“So, what has happened here is that with the massive failure, what we call oil glut in the market, the oil price has reduced what we expected in the last 20 years and that has automatically affected our economy. So, it has nothing to do with which administration is in power.
“It has something to do with resources to be able to deliver the dividends of democracy. But I think all hands should be on deck, those in opposition and those in position to work together to salvage the situation. The country belongs to all of us and if the country collapses on our heads, it means that we will bequeath nothing to our children.
“I will like to bequeath Nigeria to my children and that is why I said we must look at the economic situation in an apolitical manner and not point blames on any political party.We must work together to diversify the economy and get other sources of revenue, go into mining, go into agricultural ventures, encourage entrepreneurship ventures and at the same time bring foreign direct investment and encourage local industrialisation to enable our people to have jobs.
“It is not something you can depend only on revenue from crude oil to resolve. It has shown us now that it can fail us any time any day. That's the reason I said we need time, Nigerians must be patient with government irrespective of whether it is at the federal or state levels.”
Anietie Ekong , SA Media to Senator Godswill Akpabio
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