NACCIMA Says Oil Sector Is Killing Economy

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) last week said the oil sector is creating distortion in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors which are the main engines of an economy. This kills the economy silently.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 11th Techno Expo and silver jubilee ceremony of the Raw Materials Research Development Council in Abuja, NACCIMA's Director General Dr John Isemede said the oil sector is affecting businesses in the country negatively by failing to add real value to them.

He said the oil sector has caused substantial decline in agricultural exports, which began in the mid-1960s and continued till date.

"It was observed that the advent of the oil sector (petrol dollars) assuming a prominent place in contributing to the GDP had created a distortion in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors of the economy", he said.

But speaking earlier, the chairman senate committee on science and technology, Prof Robert Boroffice said it is a matter of fact that one of the many challenges in achieving national economic development still remains the low level of local content in industrial inputs in terms of the required raw materials.

He said the situation has brought about partly by inadequate technological development which in turn results in poor capacity utilization and high rate of non-performing industries with resultant increase in job losses.

He said "Nigeria has not had any leader that believed in science and technology and the country can develop without serious attention to science and technology."