Nigeria needs to depend less on oil

By Our Reader
Published: Sunday, 19 Oct 2008

Has anyone ever imagined Nigeria without oil? Perhaps, it has not crossed our minds that one day, we might sell our last drop.

In the world of Information Technology, there is what is called disaster recovery strategy. Corporations spend millions of dollars to build backup sites just in case their production site is consumed by any natural or man-made disaster. It is not that these corporations have money to waste by replicating their infrastructure but it is a very critical business need. Liking Nigeria to a Corporation, what is our own disaster recovery strategy in case our oil wells dry up or some disasters make it impossible for production to go on for a whole year? I do believe that we have technocrats in the cabinet of Umaru Yar’Adua and it is high time they began to put this into perspective.

A particular Asian country, Malaysia I guess, took oil fruit from Nigeria to cultivate in their country. Today, they are playing big in palm oil and other associated by-products of palm fruit. United Arab Emirate was a desert before. I even learnt they had come to Nigeria to borrow before. Presently, a lot of us fight for Emirate‘s ticket to fly to Dubai for vacation and shopping. How did they make it happen? Some smart and serious minded guys in that country came together and strategised on how to move their country forward.

What has happened to agriculture in Nigeria? What have become of our groundnut pyramids in the North and the cocoa in the West? We have all abandoned these to local farmers with occasional distribution of fertilizers to them. We are all in the mad chase for oil.

Nigeria is abundantly blessed with natural endownments – the Olumo rock, the water falls, Yankari games reserve and others. How far have we gone to develop tourism? Maybe we should just shut down all oil wells and see if there is any backup. Of course I know this position might sound sarcastic and bizarre but it will open our eyes to the truth.

Barth Okonkwo,
Adeola Hopewell, Victoria Island,
barthlini@yahoo.com.

source: punchng.com

Global markets take a beating again

Friday October 17, 2008
By IZWAN IDRIS
KUALA LUMPUR: Global markets took another beating Thursday, with shares in Japan plummeting more than 11% as investors continued to dump shares amid heightening fears the global economy is sinking into a recession.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso was quoted as telling Japanese lawmakers that the US government’s US$700bil banking rescue plan was “insufficient” and that was why “the market is again falling sharply.’’
Sentiment in Asia and Europe was gutted by the 7.9% dive on the Dow Jones Industrial Index on Wednesday on fears the US economy was headed for a recession after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the US economy faced a “significant threat” from credit markets.
Crude oil dropped US$4.09 to settle at US$74.54 on Wednesday, the lowest closing level since Aug 31, 2007 as fears of a sharp fall in demand took grip.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 plummeted 11.4% to 8,458.45 points yesterday, the index’s steepest one-day loss since 1987.
European markets slumped 2% to 3% in early trade.
In South Korea, the main Kospi index plunged 9.4% after rating agency Standard & Poor’s warned that Korean banks might struggle to refinance their debts.
Stock markets in Hong Kong, China and Singapore fell between 4.2% and 5.2%, while in Australia, share prices tumbled 6.7%.
On Bursa Malaysia, the KL Composite Index fell 29.86 points, or 3.1% to 920 points.
Shares in oil and gas fabricator KNM Group Bhd again dominated trade on Bursa Malaysia, with 342 million shares transacted.
The counter alone accounted for about 38% of total market volume of 897 million shares yesterday. (See report on B3)
The ringgit, meanwhile, slumped to a new 21-month low at 3.5265 against the US dollar.
OSK Research has lowered its year-end target for the KL Composite Index (KLCI) for a second time in a month, citing “worsening global economic outlook and falling commodity prices.’’
The firm slashed its year-end target for the KLCI to 1,037 points from 1,128 points and to just 1,116 points for 2009.
“With sentiment badly beaten as it is, even the easing political uncertainties and the unveiling of a domestic ‘stabilisation’ plan may not be enough to significantly lift our market,’’ OSK said.
The Government is expected to announce on Monday details of its stabilisation plan, which would contain measures to help the economy withstand the global financial crisis.
The financial crisis and its crippling impact on the global economy had already ravaged commodity markets, with crude oil, crude palm oil (CPO) and steel prices plunging from record highs just months before.
CPO third month futures contract traded on Bursa Derivatives, the global benchmark for the vegetable oil, tumbled 5.3% to a new two-year low of RM1,651 per tonne yesterday.
CIMB Research noted that steel product prices had fallen 30% to 50% from their peak in July.
“In a nutshell, the landscape for the steel industry has changed and is expected to be negative for the next six to 12 months, given the recent downgrades of key demand drivers for the steel,’’ it said.
source: biz.thestar.com.my