The outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited, Mr. Babs Omotowa has stated that Nigeria and six other crude oil producing countries suffered most severe consequences of the slump in crude oil price because they failed to save for the rainy day during the period of oil boom.

Speaking at a recent conference organised by energy reporters in Lagos, Omotowa, who identified the six other countries to include Russia, Venezuela, Norway, Iran, Iraq and Libya, said these countries did not save in the Sovereign Wealth Funds unlike many Arab nations.

He argued that while many of the stable Arab nations had started sovereign funds many years ago as a way to save for the raining days and diversify their economy, the oil boom of the 1970’s inflated the standard of living in oil producing nations, such as Nigeria.

According to him, Nigeria seemed to have abandoned everything else because of oil and also created expectations that could be fulfilled only by a continued flow of petro dollars.

He said as the global industry had seen booms and busts from an average of $14 oil price in 1986 and $91 in 2008, it was not strange when oil price began a free fall in 2014 from $120 per barrel to today’s $44 per barrel.

Speaking on the nations with the most visible results from low oil prices regime, Omotowa said that the Nigerian currency, for instance, was “at its lowest level against the dollar, driving up food prices, making it difficult to pay salaries, causing companies to fold up or retrench workers, raising inflation levels”.

In Russia, Omotowa said the rubble was haemorrhaging, driving up price of food, and pilling pressure on debt servicing.

He said Venezuela was in such a mess that it had shortages of toilet paper. Debt default is a real possibility.

According to him, with Iran, Iraq and Libya relying almost entirely on oil for their export earnings and domestic budgets, the turmoil in the region has affected oil production, while Norway has warned of a “severe downturn.”

“State-owned producers witnessed plunging prices poking holes in state budgets with wider ripple effects on the ability of such countries to tackle structural challenges including infrastructure and socio-economic issues,” Omotowa said.

In Nigeria, Omotowa, however identified Lagos and Anambra States as the two well managed states that can survive assuming the statutory allocation is not forthcoming because of low oil price.

He identified the case of Anambra State where salaries are being paid as at when due, and the export of organic vegetables to the United States and the UK made headlines earlier this year as an example of prudent management of resources even without being tagged as an oil-producing state.

“At a point, these fiscal buffers created by Anambra State totalled at least N75 billon, a clear departure from the norm with its peers,” he added.

Omotowa noted that Lagos State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which was N600 million monthly in 1999, grew to N100 billion in the first quarter of 2016.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/08/23/omotowa-how-nigeria-six-other-oil-producers-failed-to-save-for-rainy-day/

No wonder we are suffering today.

sammyomal:
No wonder we are suffering today.

blame amaechi, fashola and kwankwaso who took jonathan to court to share the excess crude oil savings when thwy were governors

betterABIAstate:
blame amaechi, fashola and kwankwaso who took jonathan to court to share the excess crude oil savings when thwy were governors

Are you not tired of telling yourself this lie? Can you post a link to the court judgement that mandated GEJ to share the money?

betterABIAstate:
blame amaechi, fashola and kwankwaso who took jonathan to court to share the excess crude oil savings when thwy were governors

I guess the court also instructed Jonathan to spend fg 51% share of excess crude funds. .. The court further instructed enable the looting of billions through shady arms contract. Please tell another lie. ..rubbish

But Jonathan and his team tried to beg this Governors from their decision of taking the FG to the Supreme court over the Sovereign Wealth Fund he wanted to create for the Rainy days in 2012. Lets stop this cheap propanganda and not derail history.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/103127-jonathan-urges-governors-to-support-sovereign-wealth-fund.html

vedaxcool:


I guess the court also instructed Jonathan to spend fg 51% share of excess crude funds. .. The court further instructed enable the looting of billions through shady arms contract. Please tell another lie. ..rubbish

excess crude oil savings would have been used to salvage the economy

Jayceo:
But Jonathan and his team tried to beg this Governors from their decision of taking the FG to the Supreme court over the Sovereign Wealth Fund he wanted to create for the Rainy days in 2012. Lets stop this cheap propanganda and not derail history.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/103127-jonathan-urges-governors-to-support-sovereign-wealth-fund.html

How was obasanjo able to save his?

[s]

betterABIAstate:
excess crude oil savings would have been used to salvage the economy

[/s]
The question is was it the same court that instructed Jonathan to recklessly spend and loot the FG 51% share of the excess crude funds? Or is this simple question above your pay grade?

betterABIAstate:
excess crude oil savings would have been used to salvage the economy

So why didn't he save? How was OBJ able to save? Were all the governors dead when OBJ was president?

vedaxcool:
[s][/s]
The question is was it the same court that instructed Jonathan to recklessly spend and loot the FG 51% share of the excess crude funds? Or is this simple question above your pay grade?

Let him even give us a link to the court judgement that ordered GEJ to share the money before he'll explain why GEJ refused to save the 52% FG share

Don't mind the last donkey administration and their supporters.!!!

vedaxcool:
[s][/s]
The question is was it the same court that instructed Jonathan to recklessly spend and loot the FG 51% share of the excess crude funds? Or is this simple question above your pay grade?

pleas take your ignorance somewhere else. It was the money obasanjo saved from the excess crude oil that helped us salvage the economy in 2008 when crude oil dropped to 38$. Dont ask me stupid questions

[s]

betterABIAstate:
pleas take your ignorance somewhere else. It was the money obasanjo saved from the excess crude oil that helped us salvage the economy in 2008 when crude oil dropped to 38$. Dont ask me stupid questions

[/s]

Liar I ask once again:

vedaxcool:
[s][/s]
The question is was it the same court that instructed Jonathan to recklessly spend and loot the FG 51% share of the excess crude funds? Or is this simple question above your pay grade?

shukuokukobambl:


Let him even give us a link to the court judgement that ordered GEJ to share the money before he'll explain why GEJ refused to save the 52% FG share

It is clear he is liar for ogogoro breath.

betterABIAstate:
pleas take your ignorance somewhere else. It was the money obasanjo saved from the excess crude oil that helped us salvage the economy in 2008 when crude oil dropped to 38$. Dont ask me stupid questions

I thank The Lord almighty you know and affirm the bold. Means OBJ was actually an excellent president.

Now why didn't GEJ who sold more oil at a higher price for longer than OBJ didn't save for his successor to use to mitigate the current crises like OBJ did for him and Yaradua?

vedaxcool:
[s][/s]

Liar I ask once again:

take your ignorance to Google, dont act like a pervert.

shukuokukobambl:


I thank The Lord almighty you know and affirm the bold. Means OBJ was actually an excellent president.

Now why didn't GEJ who sold more oil at a higher price for longer than OBJ didn't save for his successor to use to mitigate the current crises like OBJ did for him and Yaradua?

the court ordered Jonathan to share the money. Please stop fooling yourself here

[s]

betterABIAstate:
take your ignorance to Google, dont act like a pervert.

[/s]

Do you even have the capacity to reason? Prove it by answering this:

vedaxcool:
[s][/s]
The question is was it the same court that instructed Jonathan to recklessly spend and loot the FG 51% share of the excess crude funds? Or is this simple question above your pay grade?

betterABIAstate:
blame amaechi, fashola and kwankwaso who took jonathan to court to share the excess crude oil savings when thwy were governors

Nope, we have to blame all of them,GEJ included.
I believe there Was a percentage meant for the FG then, Was that part also not spent?
The annoying ish now is that those crooks that once destroyed Nigeria are back at the realm of affairs claiming supermen

shukuokukobambl:


How was obasanjo able to save his?

Obasanjo save? Obasanjo didn't save but cleared our debt ratio , He was just fortunate the administration that followed him had a good team that was intelligent in maneuvering the tsunami of '08. The Economy was heading towards hard times everyone knew this.Our economy is dependent on Crude oil price and any change in price would affect it. This low oil price crisis started in 2014 and even APC in their manifesto attested to the fact they were not looking up to Crude Oil to sustain the Economy.(It was a wonderful manifesto tho), quite unfortunate it was dumped when Buhari came into power
The reason we are where we are today is


1 The Economy wasn't the priority of Buhari when he came in. Its obvious how he could appoint SAs for medias weeks into his admin but just appointing SAs for the Economy just this month.

2 The Presidency spent six months before swearing in a cabinet meant to oversee several aspects of the Economy, Meaning the economy was on auto pilot

3 The Presidency was interfering with the CBN, this is why it took time before we floated the naira something we could have done last year when it could have cushioned the effect.This is why a lot of companies left, the foreign currency was fixed and their only option was the parallel market and this affected their business

4 The Presidency implemented the TSA too early, it should have sat with stakeholders and drafted a blueprint on the best way to go about this and given a timeline to do this. Thats why a lot of bank workers lost their Jobs


These are just a few mistakes he made. I supported the Buhari Administration even joined the one million man march in lagos for APC but the truth is they made a lot of mistakes and have been using "mistakes of the last admin" to hide their incompetence. I wish them all the best.

shukuokukobambl:


I thank The Lord almighty you know and affirm the bold. Means OBJ was actually an excellent president.

Now why didn't GEJ who sold more oil at a higher price for longer than OBJ didn't save for his successor to use to mitigate the current crises like OBJ did for him and Yaradua?

the Uganda seems like a bot incapable of reasoning and acting.

Jayceo:


Obasanjo save? Obasanjo didn't save but cleared our debt ratio , He was just fortunate the administration that followed him had a good team that was intelligent in maneuvering the tsunami of '07. The Economy was heading towards hard times everyone knew this,our economy is dependent on Crude oil price and since the crisis started in 2014 even APC in their manifesto attested to the fact they were not looking up to Crude Oil to sustain the Economy, the reason we are where we are today is


1 The Economy wasn't the priority of Buhari when he came in. Its obvious how he could appoint SAs for medias weeks into his admin but just appointing SAs for the Economy just this month.

2 The Presidency spent six months before swearing in a cabinet meant to oversee several aspects of the Economy, Meaning the economy was on auto pilot

3 The Presidency was interfering with the CBN, this is why it took time before we floated the naira something we could have done last year when it could have cushioned the effect.This is why a lot of companies left, the foreign currency was fixed and their only option was the parallel market and this affected their business

4 The Presidency implemented the TSA too early, it should have sat with stakeholders and drafted a blueprint on the best way to go about this and given a timeline to do this. Thats why a lot of bank workers lost their Jobs


These are just a few mistakes he made. I supported the Buhari Administration even joined the on millionan march in lagos for APC but the truth is they made a lot of mistakes and have been using "mistakes of the last admin" to hide their incompetence. I wish them all the best.

You're mostly right with your submissions except when you say OBJ didn't save!! How then did we escape the 2008 global melt down? What did Soludo use in defending the naira?!!

betterABIAstate:
the court ordered Jonathan to share the money. Please stop fooling yourself here

You're actually doing worse than fooling yourself. Why do you keep lying to yourself?

Which court? does it not have a name?

sammyomal:
No wonder we are suffering today.

so u are stil a kid, no wonder u join ipods insulting pmb who is working tirelessly to remove us from d mess ineffectual buffoon and pdp put us over the years. God bless pmb

shukuokukobambl:


You're actually doing worse than fooling yourself. Why do you keep lying to yourself?

Which court? does it not have a name?

google is your friend, the info is all there for you, I won't feed your lazy ass with everything

betterABIAstate:
google is your friend, the info is all there for you, I won't feed your lazy ass with everything

You're jonsing to think you're in your umunna meeting where you regal them with lies about your life in Lagos

Are you disabled that you can't use the same google to educate yourself? i know you've turned google inside out and couldn't find support for your lies hence this false braggadocio

Which court ordered GEJ to share the money? na sharia court of ohafia abi which one?

shukuokukobambl:


You're mostly right with your submissions except when you say OBJ didn't save!! How then did we escape the 2008 global melt down? What did Soludo use in defending the naira?!!

Again I repeat he cleared our debt , this was even done by an appeal to the paris club.They made us pay part and ignored the rest.

He left money in our reserve like every present did . He left $40 billion

Difference between '08 and '15

1 An administration which was swift in his appointments
2 An administration who had a better team
3 An adminstration that gave independence to the rightful system.

Even with all this, the Yaradua era depleted our reserves further into the low 30s

Not to say Jonathan deserves a pass , he is equally at fault. Greatly too

But where we are is hugely dependent on the incompetence shown by this admin so far.

Their policies are disappointing
Their Priorities are disappointing
They haven't gone ahead of this blame game.

A classic example of a sensible Government that performed well under extremely bad conditions due to the ex admin was The Obama administration sufferring from the 08 saga and the Theresa May administration suffering from the Brexit saga.

See how they handled the situation without blame game but getting to do the Job.

APC knew what they were getting into before they contested


As I said their manifesto detailed how they would overcome this. I still have it with me.Its just disappointing they have taken this route. We expected better

shukuokukobambl:


How was obasanjo able to save his?

who cud tackle obj? Didnt obj even withold lagos allocation for months despite court rulling? Gej may have some bad eggs but you ppl forced him to do certain things u are suffering from now. U couldnt have taken him to court and shared the excess crude fund and expecting to have ur eaten cake,do u?

Mr president save for rainy day

DabuIIIT:

who cud tackle obj? Didnt obj even withold lagos allocation for months despite court rulling? Gej may have some bad eggs but you ppl forced him to do certain things u are suffering from now. U couldnt have taken him to court and shared the excess crude fund and expecting to have ur eaten cake,do u?

Thanks for confirming that my brother is a strong somebody

Why is it so difficult to give us a link that shows the court judgment you all have been holding as the culprit? was it a court in heaven?

Tell me the court that ordered GEJ to share the money and i'll keep quiet about this matter

Jayceo:


Again I repeat he cleared our debt , this was even done by an appeal to the paris club.They made us pay part and ignored the rest.

He left money in our reserve like every present did . He left $40 billion

Difference between '08 and '15

1 An administration which was swift in his appointments
2 An administration who had a better team
3 An adminstration that gave independence to the rightful system.

Even with all this, the Yaradua era depleted our reserves further into the low 30s

Not to say Jonathan deserves a pass , he is equally at fault. Greatly too

But where we are is hugely dependent on the incompetence shown by this admin so far.

Their policies are disappointing
Their Priorities are disappointing
They haven't gone ahead of this blame game.

A classic example of a sensible Government that performed well under extremely bad conditions due to the ex admin was The Obama administration sufferring from the 08 saga and the Theresa May administration suffering from the Brexit saga.

See how they handled the situation without blame game but getting to do the Job.

APC knew what they were getting into before they contested


As I said their manifesto detailed how they would overcome this. I still have it with me.Its just disappointing they have taken this route. We expected better

My dear friend, fvck APC and Buhari if you like. I'm less concerned about them in this matter.

You're dancing around the question. You made a mistake and it's easier to own up than all this dancing. You said OBJ cleared our debts. Yes i agree.

You said OBJ didn't save. No i disagree

If he didn't leave savings for Yaradua, how did Soludo defend the naira from the global financial meltdown? Even Soludo himself mentioned this in his article against NOI and GEJ last year