President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration will stop the dependence on crude oil exports for economic survival.
He spoke yesterday while receiving the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Mr. Fahad Abdullah Sefyan, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari affirmed his administration’s commitment to foster the development of the non-oil sectors.
He said: “For more than 30 years, Nigeria has depended on oil as its major source of revenue at the expense of agriculture and the non-oil sector which could be the mainstay of our economy.
“As oil exporting countries facing similar challenges due to the down turn in the international price of crude oil, we should be working closer together.
“Saudi Arabia has done excellently in manufacturing, building of infrastructure and exploration of solid minerals and I believe that greater bilateral cooperation between us in this regard will be mutually beneficial,” the President told the new ambassador of Saudi Arabia.
He also said in keeping with his commitment to the accelerated development of Nigeria’s non-oil sector, the Federal Government would ensure that all pending agreements on trade and economic relations with other countries were speedily concluded and signed.
Buhari, who also received the Ambassador of Turkey, Mr. Hakan Cakil and the Ambassador of Sudan, Mr. Ibrahim Bushra Mohammed, hailed Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sudan for their cooperation with Nigeria in the war against terrorism.
The President restated his conviction that the war against terrorism in Nigeria and other countries could only be won with greater and more effective international collaboration.