Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, also disclosed that 34 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil were unsold at the moment.
Aregbesola decried that the nation’s Bonny Light, which used to be the toast of the oil market, even booked 90 days ahead, was no more sought.
This came to the fore when Ajimobi delivered the seventh Femi Okunnu Annual Lecture, entitled: “State Financing and Over-dependence on Oil: Issues and Challenges,” at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
Ajimobi attributed the current financial quagmire and economic crisis to Nigeria’s over-dependence on oil, oil theft, bureaucratic and political corruption.
He said the massive exploitation of Shale Oil by the United States, exit of China as Nigeria’s crude oil exporter and decline in major global stock markets left no option for the country but to diversify the economy away from oil.
He called for focus on agriculture and exploration of the nation’s solid minerals.
Ajimobi prayed for the political will, while charging government to provide adequate subsidies that would encourage people’s involvement in agriculture.
In the meantime, he called for a decentralisation in the management of the oil sector. This, he said, was achievable if each state was compelled to have a refinery and be responsible for its operation.
He also called for a ban on importation of products that could be made locally.
He further called for increased Public Private Partnership to drive the economy out of the current financial quagmire.
