28 November 2008
Lagos — A lecturer in the Department of Business Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr. S.A. Abdulahi has advised the federal government to ensure that resources are effectively allocated and utilised by government agencies and parastatals and investors, if the nation is to develop.
Abdulahi gave the advice at the 2008 annual national conference of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) held recently in Abuja .
In a paper entitled "Efficiency modules in sound national resource utilisation and management", the university don said that Nigeria was supposed to be the richest country in Africa but it is not.
"The veracity and depth of the poverty incidence gives credence to this" he said, noting that successive government had attempted to introduce and implement various multi-faceted economic reforms aimed at diversifying the economy, improve efficiency and to put the economy on sound footing.
Abdulahi mentioned that the impact of the various reforms had not been fully reflected in the quality of life of Nigerians.
He described the Nigerian economy as still largely dependent on oil, while government is yet to fully diversify and expand the non-oil sectors.
According to him, the manufacturing sector in particular is still under serious pressure from massive importation contributing only a meager 3.05 per cent.
"The agricultural sector cannot be said to have improved for the cost of feeding is still high", he said, adding that the country's infrastructure is down, power supply is epileptic, the roads are still; ill-maintained and there is inadequate housing, health and educational facilities."
Abdulahi noted that "in spite of the above, not too rosy picture, the Nigerian economy still possessed a prosperous future.
According to him, what is needed is significant improvement in the utilisation and efficiency in the management of our natural resources.
He explained that the economy was more gradually opening up to foreign direct investment with more foreign investors showing interest in the country's economic opportunity.
"it is our submission and ardent believe that there can only be social and economic development when resources are properly harnessed, effectively allocated and efficiently utilised", the don said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Champion. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
