Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has revealed that for Nigeria to come out of the downslide that it is facing economically, the country needs to save aggressively, diversify the economy into knowledge based exports and invest in developmental education.

He made this known at the first annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), which held at the Renaissance Lagos Ikeja Hotel.

According to the Obi, failure to save well enough, and failure to invest well in developmental education is what has caused the country what it is facing today.

He said: “The Nigerian economy have for the past decades been growing, until the country recently experienced economic recession. From August 2016, Nigeria experienced negative growth in the economy, because we failed to save for the rainy days, as countries as China, South Korea, Thailand did as at the 1980’s.

“So for us to bounce back economically as a nation, we must save be able to aggressively, diversify the economy into knowledge based exports and invest in developmental education. Our economy is fairly diversified. The oil is actually contributing 80% of our GDP.”

In the same vein, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the federal government is committed in making a paradigm shift in the economy, as it pays attention to agriculture. Represented by the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Mohammed noted that when the economy is affected positively or negatively, the first sector to be affected is the media. He further commended GOCOP for coming under one platform to chart the course of online journalism.

“I commend GOCOP for coming together, but I appeal that GOCOP establish a code of conduct for online publishers and bloggers as it was done years ago, to avoid the spread of false news and deceits around.

I charge online newspapers to find a way of posting stories that are catchier to the eyes, such that anyone that sees the headline would not resist it. This will make online papers take the lead from the social media handles, which are on top in terms of making money today.

The event, which also had the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, and representatives of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Inspector General of Police, ended with the inauguration of the new executives of GOCOP.