Shettima Says Nigeria Has No Business Being Poor

(Vice President Kashim Shettima. Photo Credit: Premuim times)

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria has no reason to remain poor, insisting that the country's vast natural resources and economic potential could position it among the richest nations in the world if properly developed.

Shettima made the remarks on Wednesday while delivering the keynote address at the Agric, Development and Investment Summit in Abuja.

He cited Indonesia's success in the oil palm sector as an example of how strategic agricultural investment can generate substantial national wealth, noting that despite being an oil-producing country, Indonesia earned about $25 billion from crude palm oil exports in 2025, a figure that surpassed Nigeria's earnings from crude oil.

He explained that Indonesia exported just 32 million tonnes out of 53 million tonnes of crude palm oil produced that year, yet still generated revenue that exceeded Nigeria's oil earnings, even though Nigeria's total oil revenue amounted to only about half of what Indonesia made from its palm oil exports alone.

Shettima also pointed to the economic potential of the Niger Delta, describing it as the third-largest delta in the world with significant opportunities for mariculture, including the farming of fish species such as salmon, tuna and lobster, resources he said the region is naturally endowed with.

He maintained that if properly harnessed, Nigeria's agricultural and marine resources could transform the nation's economy and improve citizens' livelihoods, insisting that the country has no business remaining poor given its potential to become one of the wealthiest in the world.

He added that certain parts of Nigeria hold such abundant natural wealth that money could practically be planted and harvested from the land itself.