A former Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Osita Ogbu has explained what the Federal Government needs to do to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
Ogbu, a renowned economist and development expert, urged the Federal Government to support the manufacturing sector which has the potential to drive economic growth.
He said this at the 11th convocation lecture delivered on Friday in Abuja with the theme: The fourth industrial revolution and the challenge of poverty reduction in Nigeria.
Ogbu, who was also the Minister of National Planning under President Obasanjo, however, lamented that Nigeria’s economy had not diversified into manufacturing, adding that the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was still about 12 per cent compared to that of emerging economies of between 20 – 30 per cent with rising productivity.
He said: “No country has successfully lifted millions out of poverty without a large manufacturing sector. It is the sector with significant technological spill – over, linkage with other sectors of the economy, huge wage employment base and higher Incomes from higher productivity.
“It is also the sector where industrial and technological upgrading occurs, key to structural change and sustained economic growth and hence poverty reduction.
“When economic growth is from a growing manufacturing sector, that growth is likely to be inclusive and poverty – reducing especially if it is characterized by huge labour demand.”
Ogu, who doubles as the Director, Institute for Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), noted that nations that have transformed, where incomes had risen, and millions lifted out of poverty were innovative economies.
“Economies that produce things, economies that have a mastery, command of the means (technology, capability and skills) of production of a range of goods and services.
“To attain this status requires significant investment in the innovation infrastructure of the country, both physical and human.”