Niger Delta crisis poses no danger to Vision 20:20-20--Coordinator
The Coordinator of the Vision 20:20-20, Mr. Akin Arikawe, has said that the Niger Delta crisis will not hinder the attainment of the goals of Vision 2020 within its time frame.
Arikawe made the remark while speaking with newsmen after opening a two-day workshop on the vision for stakeholders in the North-West zone in Kaduna.
He said that the nation's oil industry was contributing immensely to the economy in terms of revenue generation, but not in employment and economic growth.
According to him, the agricultural sector contributes considerably to national employment and is also responsible for about 42 per cent of the country's GDP.
''The oil sector contributes a lot of money to the budget, but it does not even contribute a half of what we get from the agricultural sector.
``The Niger-Delta crisis will soon be over and it will not affect the implementation of the Vision.
''It is true that oil has given us the opportunity to do a lot of things, but there are many countries which do not have oil and are doing quite well.
''While oil has been a blessing to us, it has also brought some negative consequences," he said.
Arikawe said that the Niger-Delta crisis was not an over riding factor in the economy, saying that countries such as Japan and South Korea had no natural resources, but were fast working their way to the very top.
He said that Vision 20: 20-20 was an opportunity to resolve the country's problems through dialogue.
Arikawe said that the economy had been growing at a reasonable average of seven per cent in the last five years.
The coordinator urged Nigerians to brace up for the challenges of development and assured that the 2009 budget would be implemented in accordance with national objectives.