Natural gas: Nigeria’s untapped potential – Yahyah

Alhaji Suleiman Yahyah

An economist and representative of the organised private sector, Alhaji Suleiman Yahyah, has said that passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly can save the country 40 billion dollars and also revamp the oil sector.
He urged the present administration to urgently put in place a mechanism to harness the natural gas that remains undeveloped for years. “Doing so, could generate billions of dollars for Nigeria within a short period.”

He expressed support for the position of the president on the naira, saying that the problem with the naira is merely structural and could be solved.
He advocated for a naira recovery strategy that combines trade, fiscal and monetary approaches.
He said the extra ordinary problem confronting Nigeria needs extraordinary brains to solve.
He called for urgent constitution of an economic team that can fashion out a strategy for solving the problems of the country.
He agreed that Nigeria’s problems are daunting: Nigeria has a budget deficit of N2.5 trillion that could rise to 10 trillion when the states’ and federal budgets are combined.
Lamenting that “Nigeria is at cross roads” he advised that jobs must be created for about 76 million Nigerians, who are disguisedly or completely unemployed in the country.
According to him more jobs could be created in the services sector and not just the agric and solid minerals sector.