Nigerian Economy Remains under Great Threat, US Warns

The United States military on Friday warned that the Nigerian economy remains under great threat following the surge in criminal activities in the Niger Delta and the threats by militants to resume bombing of oil facilities in the region. The rise in lawless activities around the Gulf of Guinea was also identified as another threat to Nigeria’s economy. 

 The warning from the Commander of the United States Naval Forces in charge of Europe and Africa, Admiral Michelle Howard, is coming amid a ray of hope by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that Nigeria was now out of economic recession with a growth rate of 0.55 per cent.  

Howard, who was speaking while presenting the US Presidential Medal of Honour to Nigeria’s Deputy Military Attachee to the US, Navy Captain Kolawole Oguntuda, at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja said: “Oil extraction and production accounts for 75% of Nigeria’s revenue with the vast majority of oil infrastructure existing off shore or really close inshore. So terrorism, criminal networks, illegal bunkering with damages of oil pipeline directly threatens Nigeria economy.