By Moses Patience
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer( CEO) of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr Ezra Yakusak, has asserted that the Nigerian economy can survive even if crude oil, which is the major source of government’s revenue, dries up today.
Yakusa said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) Stakeholder Conference, where he added that the non-oil sector of the economy would sustain the economy in the event that the crude oil dries up.
He further noted that the management of NEPC has decided to launch a programme called “Export 774,″ which is targeted at identifying the products in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
His words: “Nigeria would not have oil one day. Assuming that there is no crude oil tomorrow, what happens?
“I strongly believe if crude oil is taken away from us today, Nigeria will not crumble.
“It is when you are pushed to the wall that you know your potential, capability and what you can do.
“If crude oil disappears in Nigeria, we are going to come out stronger. We have so many products that we can leverage on.
“I need to tell you that Nigeria is so blessed with so many products that you will be amazed.
“We just realized that people are not even aware of the products we have. We exported 214 products last year. People were surprised that we have these products.