The Executive Director, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo, on Friday described as biggest surprise the swift way Nigeria’s economy recovered from recession.

Awolowo spoke in an interview with State House correspondents after a meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the council remained committed to its targets to realise at least $30bn in the next 10 years from zero oil export.

While admitting the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, Awolowo said Nigeria could still get $30bn in terms of non oil export as projected.

He said, “To say 2020 was a year of surprises would be an understatement – the world is still counting the devastating effects such as the loss of $3.7trn of economic output, 225 million jobs, and over two million lives.

“The biggest surprise was Nigeria’s swift recovery from recession in Q4 of 2020. We woke up to the good news yesterday (Thursday).

“Congratulations to Mr President! In a now less predictable, less reliable and less generous world, he has definitely demonstrated with his leadership that we are able to build a resilient economy that can absorb all global shocks, whatever they may be, known and unknown.”

Awolowo however said the country must increase production and productivity across the two sectors that the zero oil plan is postulating for the country.

He said, “We cannot run an economy that 90 per cent of our earnings is from crude oil.

“It is just not working and that is what we are seeing throughout the years when we went into first recession when the world oil prices stood worldwide.

“We need to move again from just raw materials, we need to look at the entire value chain and that is where you create jobs and that is where you earn more money.