Economic Diversification Very High On Our Agenda – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday in Abuja that Nigeria, under his leadership, will work more closely with other countries facing the challenge of falling oil prices to rapidly move away from dependence on crude oil exports for economic survival.

Speaking at an audience with the new Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Mr. Fahad Abdullah Sefyan, President Buhari affirmed his administration’s commitment to faster development of Nigeria’s non-oil sectors and the speedy diversification of the country’s economy.

‘‘For more than 30 years, Nigeria has depended on oil as its major source of revenue at the expense of agriculture and the non-oil sector which could be the mainstay of our economy.

“As oil exporting countries facing similar challenges due to the down turn in the international price of crude oil, we should be working closer together.

“Saudi Arabia has done excellently in manufacturing, building of infrastructure and exploration of solid minerals and I believe that greater bilateral cooperation between us in this regard will be mutually beneficial,” the President told the new Ambassador of Saudi Arabia.

President Buhari said that in keeping with his commitment to the accelerated development of Nigeria’s non-oil sector, the Federal Government will ensure that all pending agreements on trade and economic relations with other countries are speedily concluded and signed.

President Buhari, who also received the new Ambassador of Turkey, Mr. Hakan Cakil and the new Ambassador of Sudan, Mr. Ibrahim Bushra Mohammed, commended Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sudan for their cooperation with Nigeria in the war against terrorism.

The President restated his conviction that the war against terrorism in Nigeria and other countries can only be won with greater and more effective international collaboration.

All the new ambassadors assured President Buhari that they will work very hard to boost trade and economic relations between Nigeria and their respective countries.