A foremost traditional ruler in Delta State, His Royal Majesty, Asagba Prof Epiphany Azinge, SAN, OON, the 14th Asagba of Asaba, has spoken firmly on the consequence of over dependence on oil as the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
Addressing participants of the Senior Executive Course 47 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, in Plateau State, who paid him a courtesy visit, the highly revered monarch noted that oil had relegated other national assets, including the deep sea, rivers and marine resources, with equally high economic potentials, to the background.
Asagba Prof Azinge said dependence on quick oil wealth had adversely affected fishing, which was a major occupation in coastline areas of Nigeria in long time past, as one could now hardly find fishermen in such areas, including the Asaba community, strategically located by the bank of the River Niger.
He maintained that the nation’s economy could only come to its fullest when diversified to the blue economy, amongst others, stressing that trawls needed to be deployed to the deep sea to fish for shrimps, prawns, calamaris, and so many other aquatic animals that could yield substantial income and boost the nation’s economy.
The Asagba said: ” If we embrace this diversity to the blue economy, I believe that we can sustain our economy to the fullest and we will have more than enough money to invest in many other things.
“I always tell people that for me the major component of our Constitution is chapter 2 of the Constitution, which deals with the fundamental objectives and directive principles of policy. Whether it is economic objective, social objective, political objective. For me that is the manifesto of this country, an any party that can hold on tenaciously to that will win the hearts of the people.
“And many will argue; how do we raise money? For me it’s because we’ve not been able to diversify effectively, that’s why the blue economy, independent of the mining aspect of it, all put together into our diversification projection, could help us to raise sufficient money to drive the fundamental objectives clauses, in the sense that we can now be talking fully of free education at all levels, we can talk about healthcare of our people at all levels, and so many other needs of our people; food, housing, clothing, among others”.
He pledged support for the Federal Government’s diversification project, describing oil as a wasting and gradually depleting asset, calling for bold steps to put the economy on the right footing, and expressing the hope that the interactions and interrogation to be carried out by the Course participants would go a long way to achieve the set purpose.
Earlier in his remarks, a member of the Directing Staff and leader of the NIPSS delegation, DIG Adeleye Oyebade, (rtd), said the visit was to pay respect and homage to the Asagba, whom he described as an astute administrator, a constitutional lawyer of high repute, a man of integrity, a patriotic Nigerian of no mean stature and a great philosopher.
The Course 47 team leader revealed that they were in Asaba, with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to interrogate and seek ways to use the treasures inherent in the ocean, otherwise known as the blue economy, to diversify the nation’s economy and reduce dependence on oil.
He pointed out that they had embarked on a tour of some African countries, including Zamziba, Tanzania and the Philippines, to study their blue economy systems and had come to interact with the government and people of Delta State, especially the community leaders in the coastline areas, including Asaba, to find out the challenges militating against the blue economy and how they could be addressed.
DIG Oyebade (rtd) remarked that the tour of Asaba would not be complete without a visit to the Asagba, the custodian of the culture and tradition of the people, adding that the monarch’s experience, wisdom and closeness to the locals would be of great advantage to the Course participants, NIPSS and Nigeria in general.
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