By Francis Akinnodi

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An economic expert has advocated drastic economic measures by the federal government to check both present and future consequences of the global slump in the demand for crude oil which is the major source of revenue for the country.
Elder Fessy Olabode stated this, while speaking with The Hope in Akure at the weekend.
Olabode explained that the measures should include aggressive development of local production of goods and services for which the country is richly endowed and a deliberate national policy on compulsory consumption of such services and products.
The Akure based economist urged governments to create a business-friendly environment for investors and collaborate with them to revive and develop the comatose industries in the country.
According to him, “The people’s ingenuity is limitless and this is very crucial because unless as a nation we begin to invest in the development of our productive capabilities, our future will remain bleak.
“The future of Nigeria rests on the local production. Government should invest massively in the industry sector which in return would reduce unemployment, curb insecurity and enhance internal revenue generation.”
He appealed to state governments to assist the nation in her quest for technological advancement and maximize its local productive capabilities.
Also speaking on the importance of improving Nigeria’s productive base to diversify her foreign exchange earnings, he said Nigeria need to do more.
“We need to improve our productive base as a country to make sure we diversify our foreign exchange earning sources as a country.
‘We need to make sure that the ease of doing business and creating the right environment that will enable people, businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive, to succeed.
“We need to put that in place, so that collectively we can create prosperity. To ensure demand and supply. All these will help in what we have in the basket of our foreign exchange.”
Olabode noted that access to electricity remain very critical for the economic upliftment of the people and the development of the country in terms of productive.
“For the power sector in Nigeria to work well; if we want to drive this economy, we need to increase generation, make sure we address gas supply to generating companies.
“ We need to make sure the transmission lines are capacitised to evacuate the power, we need to also make sure that power generated is taken by DisCos and the metering should be right for the end users to pay.”, he said