By Tonny Akowe

President Goodluck Jonathan said in Kaduna yesterday that the nation’s external reserve has grown from $32 billion as at November 2010 to $36 billion as at end of last month.

The President also restated his adminsitration’s commitment to conducting a free and fair elections next month. Jonathan spoke at the Northern Economic Summit.

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said Nigeria cannot develop as long as industries were made to compete with those of advanced economies.

The President said the nation’s economy performed creditably in 2010.

According to him, “the growth in our economy in 2010 was driven basically by the non-oil sector especially agriculture. There has also been an improvement in our crude oil sector made possible by our administration’s implementation of the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta region.

“It is gladdening to note that our external reserve has assumed an upward ride from $32.5 billion in September 2010 to $36 billion in February 2011. The various programmes embarked upon by government over the years have enabled the economy to recover from the global economic crisis”.

He also said the federal government would partner with the various state governments in the economic development of the country, adding that in this regards, the National Bureau of Statistics is compiling statistics of the gross domestic product in the various states.

Jonathan described the summit “as a defining moment in Nigeria’s economic and political history. It is a time that calls for deep reflection. The summit will lay a solid foundation for the development of our great nation.

“This economic summit is significant not because it is organised by the north; it is the first major economic summit to be organised in this part of our country especially coming at a time in our history when we have just celebrated our 50th anniversary and a matter of weeks before our general election.”

Sanusi expressed regret that in the 21st century, Nigerians are still talking about where the president should come from rather than the capability of the occupant of the office to deliver the dividends of democracy. He asked “are we saying that what we want are incompetent leaders so long as the elections are free and fair?

He said Nigeria does not support the growth of her local industries, but subject them to stiff competition.

“We are an OPEC member, we export crude oil and we import refined petroleum products. We are the world’s number one producer of cassava but we import refined starch. We have a large cotton belt stretching from Funtua, Gusau all the way to Biu in the north east and we import textile fabric from China. We have hides and skin and we do not have a leather goods industry.

“Our problems started from the abandonment of national economic plans and lack of articulate vision on how to build an economy and when we succumb to something called market forces. We import tomato paste”.

The CBN Governor said the country spent $1 billion last year importing rice, “why should Nigeria import rice? That we do not have the land or we do not have the intelligence to farm? Or rice processing plants are high technology that is beyond the understanding of Nigerians?

Source: Nation