The vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Prof. Yemi Osinbajo says the volume of crude oil being stolen from Nigeria on a daily basis far outweighs what Ghana produces in a day.
He was delivering a speech as the guest speaker at a lecture organised to mark the 73rd birthday of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Pastor Enoch Adeboye in Lagos yesterday.
Osinbajo, a senior pastor of the RCCG, spoke on the topic: "Harmonising Virtues to Gain Heaven and Earthly Prosperity." He said part of the many challenges confronting Nigeria today is the problem of oil theft.
"In our society, we have certain challenges including corruption, described by Hillary Clinton as unbelievable, missing funds NNPC petroleum subsidy scam, kerosene subsidy scam and so on. Missing excess crude amounts to $1 billion, that is, 400,000 barrels of oil stolen every day. This is more than what Ghana struggles to produce as a nation. Since becoming an oil producing country, Ghana produces 120,000 barrels per day", he said.
Osinbajo also lamented some statistics he said had become part of Nigerian history in recent years.
He said: "Challenges such as poverty is what we face today in Nigeria. Today, over 112 million Nigerians are categorised as extremely poor despite being the largest economy in Africa. In fact, we are one of the 33 poorest countries in the world. Also, on infant mortality, about 3.9 million children have died between 2009 and 2014. Similarly, 55,000 women die every year, which accounts for our maternal mortality. On the other hand, Nigeria records 110,000 deaths as a result of diarrhoea while 10.4 million children are out of school. Again, 80 percent of our graduates are jobless".
To surmount the challenges, Osinbajo said Nigeria needs a personality that has integrity, "because integrity is at the centre of everything we do."
Daily Trust
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