• Unveils Zero Oil Plan To Boost Non-Oil Exports
• As States Urged To Seek Approval For Take Over Of Federal Roads

Segun Awolowo, Executive Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), on Thursday spoke of the urgent need to restructure the nation’s economy, by diversifying it farther away from crude oil, as he unveiled a new project tagged: “The Zero Oil Plan,” which aims to raise non-oil earnings to at least $30bn in the near to medium term.
In a presentation to the National Economic Council, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, NEPC put current non-oil earnings of about $5bn, lamenting that the country lost over $100bn (about N30tr) of National export revenue between 2015 and 2017, to the crash in oil prices, a situation which primarily was the cause of the country’s slip into recession.
The NEPC noted further that Nigeria is going through the sharpest falls of export revenues in her history, hence the urgent need to rapidly ramp up non-oil exports as our future earnings from crude oil face significant headwinds.
A major objective of the plan, the council was told, is the addition of $150bn to Nigeria foreign reserves over the next 10 years, creation of 500,000 jobs, lifting of 10m Nigerians out of poverty and integration of each State into the export value chain
According to highlights of decisions at the NEC (comprising all state governors, key ministers and agencies of government) meeting presented by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Office of the Vice President, “the focus of the plan is on the export of the following crops – Rice, Wheat, Corn, Palm Oil, Rubber, Hides and Skin, Sugar, Soya beans and automotive parts among others.
“Destination countries for our exports include; Netherlands, China, Iran, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, India, S/Arabia, among others,” the NEC, which comprises state governors, Ministers and chief executives of key departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
The Federal Government, members learnt, is favourably disposed to allowing States take over some of its roads within their domains. Request must however be made to the President for approval to allow for proper and efficient maintenance of the roads.
This, it was noted, is in view of the concern expressed by council members, over issues of roads construction, damage and maintenance by members, who urged the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to fashion strategies aimed at regulating the weight of heavy duty vehicles plying the roads as this may be responsible for road damage and collapse.
Also, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Audu Ogbeh, on Thursday said export from the sector achieved 82% growth in the first quarter of 2017, just as export of goods hit N30bn, without availing figures for the corresponding period of last year.
Ogbeh, who briefed members of Nigeria’s National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on the “Strategic Export Initiatives – A framework and action plan to grow and diversify export of agro-products, listed exportable agro commodities to include: Coffee, Cashew Nuts, Rubber, Kolanuts, Palm Kennel, Coconuts, Cotton, Ogbonno, Ginger, Timber, Shrimps among others.
He said the bulk of agriculture exports in Q2 2017 went to Asia, 66.38%; Europe, 24.98%; Americas, 4.37%; Africa, 3.88%; and Oceania 0.39%.
Cashew was a major driver of agric exports in the period under review, as it accounted for N13.5bn or 45.4% of the total agriculture exports and 1.37% of total exports
Others included the major earners to include cashew nuts export to Vietnam, worth N12.16bn; N1.4bn to India and N6.34m to Kazakhstan. It was followed by N7bn earned from export of Sesame seed, representing 23.6% of total agriculture exports; whose export to Turkey fetched Nigeria N3.7bn; N1.6bn to China; and N1.6bn to India. Soya beans export to Russia and Greece earned N3.4bn; and N1.2bn respectively; frozen shrimp export of to the Netherlands earned N2.2bn; just as cashew export to Vietnam fetched N1.8bn. Crude palm kernel oil export to the Netherland also earned N1.2bn.
Sesame seeds export to Japan was N1.3bn; India, N0.9bn; Turkey, N0.9bn; South Korea N0.8bn; and China N0.6bn.
Export earnings from frozen shrimps and prawns stood at N1.6bn or 9.6% of total agriculture exports, with the lion’s share being the N1.5bn from the Netherlands; coming behind exports of soya bean flour and meals at N2.3bn (7.8% of agricultural exports); and N2.1bn to Spain; among others.
In her own presentation on the status of the Special Accounts of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun put current balance in the Excess Crude Account on September 22, 2017 at $2,309,577,899.02; and that of the Stabilization Account was N4.354bn on September 26, 2017; while account balance for Development of Natural Resources stood at N84,693,588,214.54.