Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has during the virtual Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit, on Tuesday said that Nigeria must diversify its economy in order to address the high rate of poverty and inequality in the country.
He also said that instead of borrowing to finance development, governments at all levels must invest on human capital development and create enabling environment for investments.
“While everyone looks to the federal government for solutions, the truth is that its role in the economy is small – both in absolute and relative terms.’’ he said.
Sanusi noted that the nation’s economy has not been diversified, years after the discovery of oil.
According to him, though the economy is growing, but its non diversification has resulted to the high rate of poverty and high level of inequality in the country.
The former Emir lamented that Nigeria is still a consumer nation instead of being a producer, by seizing on the investments that the government has done in technology.
Sanusi noted that the success of Nigeria’s pre-oil economy was based on the dynamism of its trading sector and the diversity of its export base, which ‘’meant that it was less vulnerable to terms of trade shock driven by any one export.”