The Action Alliance’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, Hamza Al-Mustapha, has claimed that the discovery of oil and gas caused the demise of numerous significant industries in Nigeria.
He made the claim while attending the 34th national education conference in Abuja, which was put on by the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, a subsidiary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
Al-Mustapha claims that the development caused the country’s paper, textile, and tyre industries to go out of business and led to unemployment. This was because crude oil was discovered in the 1970s.
The presidential candidate noted that in the 70s, it was agreed that the discovery of oil and gas would be to the advantage of the country, generating revenues to help other industries, but lamented that it deprived the development of textile industry, tyre industry and paper mills.
He further lamented that “when oil and gas began to flourish, when Nigeria started producing it domestically in large quantities, it was mixed with politics in Nigeria”, hence, the present predicament in the country.
Al-Mustapha opined, “Those who introduced it began to siphon the country’s revenue. They also adopted yet another formula of international dirty politics, taking fuel from the source till all other sectors are moribund.”
On how to move the country forward, the presidential candidate called on the leaders to sit back, reflect and rethink.
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