The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL) has urged Nigerians to elect leaders with capacity to take the country from economic dependence to economc independence in 2023.
In a statement by the Executive Director, Courage Nsirimovu, the institute said leaders had failed Nigerians by their poor leadership patterns across the nation on matters of economy.
It condemned a situation where the nation still depends on crude oil, 62 years after independence, adding that such is an aberration.
The institute said that the need for economic diversification is imperative, considering the demand of the increasing population on Nigeria’s oil resource.
The statement read; ” Nigeria is a dependent state, leveraging on the support of other sovereign states for finance, products, services, aids among other things for survival.
“As a nation, we have continued to navigate the blessing and curse of crude oil. World Bank Report reveals that since 1970, 80% of our
export has been crude oil, which accounts for only 10% of our GDP. Nigeria comes in close second to Angola as a major producer of crude
oil with an output of about1.2 million barrels per day. Even more so, our sweet crude specification makes our production viable and most sought
after. With three shutdown refineries gulping a huge renovation budget, this nation imports 95% of its refined crude from other OPEC countries.
“The Nigeria economy is so vulnerable as it depends on the price of oil for sustainability. The fall and rise of oil affects the economy of Nigeria
drastically. The rise in the population of Nigeria has also put pressure on our stagnant or oscillating economy.
“In 2020, the number of poor people in Nigeria was pegged at 89 million by the United Nations and a foretelling of increase in these numbers to
95.1 million in 2022. Again, Nigeria fulfills UN prophecy as a World Bank report has noted that the number of poor persons in Nigeria has
risen to 95.1 million in 2022. This means that 6.1 million more persons would have fallen beneath the poverty line between 2020 and 2022, a
6.7% increase. The people are suffering a situation of lack of basic amenities, standard living conditions and even flagrant human rights
violations.
“UNICEF notes that one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. In 2022, Nigeria’s out-of-school children are
estimated at 18.5 million according to UNICEF. The figure is a sharp rise from 10.5 million recorded in 2021. With budgetary allocations at
an all time low at 5.39 percent and endless strike actions, the Education system is further spiraling down a black hole.
“The healthcare system is not any better with most Nigerians scrapping together their last assets to afford foreign medical attention and the rest of the populace relying on prayer. Hospitals are nonexistent, dilapidated,without the right equipments and an unquantifiable human capital drain in the sector due to lack of adequate wages and standard working environment.
“IHRHL is aware that China and other nations like Singapore who moved from underdeveloped to developed nations focused more on internal
production of goods and services in order to reduce their dependency on other nations and grow their economy and even compete in the
international market for export space. Before the advent of crude oil, Nigeria was doing well in export of agricultural products, which means
we have the capacity to produce.
“It is apparent that for Nigeria to grow her economy, we must of necessity stimulate catalytic production of the goods that we need in
Nigeria in-order to drastically reduce our imports and its attendant capital flight. The ripple effect will be massive employments, less criminal activities, growth of our GDP,less loans and debts, more money available for further productions and investment.
“Nigeria must make a final decision to fix and build her own refineries or consciously encourage the building of more refineries in Nigeria.
“IHRHL believes that with the right leadership and goodwill, Nigeria will bounce back to its glorious days.
“As such, IHRHL celebrates with the good people of Nigeria who have made it through the laborious reign of the Buhari administration and its poor management of our resources.
“Dear Nigerians, IHRHL encourages you to never loose hope as we are on the horizon of a new dawn through the exercise of our civic right to choose for ourselves who will lead us out of this quagmire. While we still do not have answers to what happened at the Lekki toll gate in October, 2020, Nigerian youths continue to wave the flag high by leaving their mark in tech start ups, fintech, entertainment, entrepreneurship and even governance.
“IHRHL urges the good people of Nigeria to channel our hope for a better nation in our votes at the 2023 elections to vote for good leaders who love Nigeria and have the capacity to take this nation from economic dependency to economic independence”.
