"The country must reduce the current dependence of the federal and the state governments on the ritual sharing of revenues from oil" - VP Osinbajo

Having an easy source of revenues
denied Nigeria the opportunity to
engage in the critical thinking and
prioritization that usually drives
development according to Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Prof.


Osinbajo spoke today at the
launching of the Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP) and Port Services
Support Portal (PSSP) for Nigerian
Ports hosted by the Ministry of
Transportation in Abuja on Thursday with other top government and private sector functionaries including
Transportation Minister Rotimi
Amaechi in attendance.

He said the country must reduce the
current dependence of the federal
and the state governments on the
ritual sharing of revenues from oil.

According to the Vice President
doing so would require alternative
revenue sources and diversification
of our economic structures in terms
of the drivers of our economic
activity and sources of foreign exchange, while hailing the Ministry
of Transportation for initiating the
SOPs and PSSPs, which are electronic-based monitoring which would now govern the entire port operations in the country.

By adopting the new technology-
based monitoring, the ministry had
set the nation on the path of
enhancing its ports capacity of
ensuring free flow of import and
export, reducing corruption in port procedures and adopting the global
best practice, Prof. Osinbajo said. He
advised all port operators to support the new system for effectiveness of ports operations, increased revenue, enhancement of diversification programme of government and curbing corruption.

The Vice President observed that
using technology-driven products is the way forward in enhancing
service delivery in both private and
public sectors. ``Everyone in the
private and public sector must invest their commitment in the successful implementation of the SOPs and PSSPs by following the procedure, not engaging in corrupt practices and putting an extra effort to ensure that the objectives are accomplished.

``We must understand and
accept that nation-building is
a collective responsibility and
that the private sector has an
important role to play in
supporting every effort of government to achieve the
building of a strong nation,’’
Osinbajo added.

He pledged the administration's resolve to continue encouraging a
competitive business environment characterized by sufficient and efficient policies to sustain economic growth to further retain and attract
local and foreign investments
in Nigeria.

Prof Osinbajo said that a key component of this administration’s change agenda lay in the
development of a diversified
non-oil economy adding that
to achieve the target, the
ports must play their role in
making it easier to trade across borders as well as
drive Nigeria’s trade policy.

The Vice President remarked that
many countries in the world had
proved that without natural
resources, the efficient management
of import and export activities could
greatly improve national economies.

``Many countries have proven
that without depending on
any natural resources, but
simply relying on efficient
procedures for undertaking
Port activities, any nation can position itself as a major hub
and can earn significant
resources by just being more
efficient,`` he noted.

Laolu Akande Senior Special Assistant-Media & Publicity In the Office of the Vice President