EXTRACTS FROM THE NBA CONFERENCE 2016 (SHOWCASE SESSION)

NBA 2016 ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE: HIGHLIGHTS OF SHOWCASE SESSION (MONDAY, August 22, 2016). GROWING NIGERIA'S ECONOMY: BEYOND OIL AND GAS SESSION CHAIR - Olisa Agbakoba SAN SPEAKERS -  1. Hon. Bawa Bwari Abubakar (Hon. Minister of State, Solid Minerals Development);  2. Christopher Nonyelum Okeke 3. Richard Mofe-Damijo (Fmr. Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Delta State); 4. Chief David Serena Dokubo Spiff (Secretary, Bayelsa State Governement) 5. Hon. Emmanuel C. Aguma SAN (Hon. Attorney General of Rivers State) Olisa Agbakoba started the plenary by bringing the issue to the table of discussion before the various panelist and they sequentially in their perspectives made the following analysis. HON. BAWA BWARI ABUBAKAR Being a former Senator, he recalled his experience while at the national assembly and also made salient issues with respect to the issue, namely; 1. that demoracy and development is a gradual process 2. that Nigeria is not representing true democracy, in the sense that the electorates will only vote candidates presented by the parties whether good or bad 3. that people lobby to voted in the National Assembly 4. that in the past, mining, solid minerals were abandoned for the oil sector, and now that the world price of oil has fallen, solid minerals are now being looked into. 5. more so, concerning the indigenisation programme (which was about employing or making use of people that had the technical know how) left Nigeria 6. that we have more than 44 minerals in the country; different local governments have specific solid minerals yet Nigeria is not seen as a mining nation but more focused on oil and gas. What needs to be done now is to attract investors for solid minerals. For instance, if we can think properly on the production of steel, we can make N6 Trillion in a year from that. A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NIGER DELTA He was of the view that Nigeria should not depend solely on oil production in order to develop the country (other sectors need to be focused on). He added that there are key sectors the country should look into that can astronomically develop the country if much infrastructures and compliance are put in place, such as Nollywood and Tax. Nollywood, as he stated, adds up to more than 5% to the GDP of the economy, while for tax gathering; he mentioned that there should be due compliance for payment of tax from private companies and individuals. However Mr. Agbakoba was of the view that the political structures have not allowed these ways to be explored. He added that our politicians since the '60s have slow paced the growth of the country. For instance, he mentioned his disappointment towards the CBN's 14% lending rate (an entrepreneur will not have the stomach to seek loan hence their dependence on oil can not be avoided); "all politicians know how to do is swerving from one political party to another because these parties have no ideologies." Mr. Agbakoba later threw a question at the Attorney General of Rivers State on what happens to the 13% of the oil money allocated to the Niger Delta region. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF RIVERS STATE He stated that right from the onset, Niger Delta has been developing even without the 13%; that asides Lagos state, Niger Delta has the best roads, schools and infrastructures, and even built the Civic Centre in 1973 long before the country’s dependence on oil. He added that the question posed to him only elaborates the impression that the citizenry depends on oil. He made mention of commercial hubs like Ariaria market in Abia, Ochancha market of Onitsha and urged people to wonder how businesses boom there without the thoughts of oil. He urged everyone to stop bothering about how the 13% oil money is spent but to look at how the infrastructures are managed and the negative effects of oil in the states (it has led to acid rain, bad water and even cancer has increased at recent times due to the effect of gas flaring). In response to Mr. Agbakoba’s question, Hon. Bwari was of the view that whatever politicians do is a true reflection from the residue of the society. In other words, it is the way we see ourselves that affects us as a nation (as rephrased by him). He advised that we have to change the way we do things. "Things could get worse," he added that the infrastructures in the country needs to be well managed. CHIEF DAVID SPIFF He was of the view that the country must exercise retrospective glances to check where we got it wrong so that we can ameliorate where we got it wrong. He further stated that we must go to the fundamentals and entrench the rule of law on issues appertaining to Bayelsa state; he informed that 30% of oil and 40% of the gas in Nigeria is produced in Bayelsa but yet (as used by him) the state is adjudged "not fit to produce one of the 44 ambassadors in this country, ambassadors whose income is generated from the income of their under bellies." YUNUS USMAN USTAZ SAN He was of the view that diversification is not an issue but the problem is whether we would not go back to a position worse than this. He beckoned on the politicians to bring back the looted money. MR. CHRIS OKEKE   He particularly made a clarion call for encouragement and growth of the agricultural sector and he urged Nigerians to be innovative and not just talk about diversification. MR ZIK He urged our leaders to stop the ‘corruption’ mantra and start to profess positive things for and about the country for no investor will be ready to invest in a corrupt society. YUSUF ALI He stated that impunity should not be encouraged and the rule of law should be precise and not be treated as the rule of convenience (a leader should not set the law for his selfish interest) further more he concluded that Nigerian leaders are bent on being loyal to those that sponsored them and this must stop for the the economy to develop.