Nigeria Must Build Economy That Can Weather All Storms — Makinde

IBADAN – Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Ma­kinde, has declared that for Ni­geria to beat the poverty trap and become a prosperous country, its economy must be built to weather all storms.

The governor added that the country must also raise entrepre­neurs and improve the standard of education, stating that in spite of Nigeria’s natural resources, its people might remain poor until its leadership put the right things in place.

Governor Makinde, who was responding to a sermon delivered by Bishop Williams Aladekungbe of Ibadan North Anglican Dio­cese at the funeral service of his (Makinde’s) older brother, Engr Olufunmilayo Sunday Makinde, held at the Bishop Akinyele Me­morial Anglican Church, Ibadan, said mineral resources are not enough to liberate a nation from poverty.

According to the governor, the experience of a country like Venezuela, which despite its huge oil reserves cannot hold a candle to Finland, which has based its growth on developing its human capital, is enough to teach Nigeri­an leaders to, apart from manag­ing the country’s natural resourc­es well, invest more in educating its younger generation and build­ing more entrepreneurs.

He maintained that this reality made his administration in Oyo State to continue to invest heav­ily in education, beginning with matching the UNESCO recom­mendation for education funding, as evident in his government ear­marking above 20 per cent of the state’s budget to education since he assumed office in 2019.

He said: “While preaching, the Bishop raised some issues. He said Nigeria does not have any reason to be poor because we do have natural resources. But nat­ural resources alone do not lead to prosperity and that is just the reality.

“The country with the highest reserve of oil in this entire world is Venezuela and it is poor. So, to have prosperity, we must raise entrepreneurs and raise the stan­dard of education.