Falling oil prices not ‘Sole culprit’ for Nigeria’s economic woes – NEITI boss

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio, has blamed successive managers of Nigeria’s economy for the current economic woes being faced by the country.

Mr. Adio spoke, Thursday, at the 2016 Academics Stand Against Poverty in Lagos.
“The fall in oil price is not the sole culprit for our current economic troubles,” said Mr. Adio, who delivered the keynote address.
“Believing that it is would delude the managers of the economy and diminish the country’s capacity to administer the right therapy.

“Here is where the political element becomes useful as an explanatory variable for this ailment, and also exposes the fall in prices as only an inevitable trigger.”
Mr. Adio said by their nature, natural resource revenues are easy to earn and easy to appropriate and expropriate.

“And since it is not revenue taxed from the sweat of citizens, the citizens are not involved in the process of generation or computation.

“This situation creates a huge incentive for capture by public officials. Its non-tax characteristic also makes managers of public resources less accountable. This inevitably fuels corruption and rent-seeking behaviours and intense competition for a time at the trough.