President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the mistakes Nigeria made in the past led to the harsh economic situation it is experiencing.

Buhari said this after commissioning the Edo University, Iyamho, in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, as part of his two-day official visit to the state.

The President said Nigeria focused on only petroleum, even though it has so many other resources.

President Buhari said, “We are blessed with human and material resources. We have made terrible mistakes in allowing ourselves to be cornered into a mono-economy and we are now paying dearly for our mistakes.

“‎Nigeria saved the money from cocoa, palm oil, palm kernel, groundnut, hides and skin and even started the professional development of petroleum.

“Once petroleum was discovered and developed in quantity, we threw everything to the dogs. Now, petroleum is diving from an average of $100 per barrel in the last 12 years to between $40 and $50 and we are paying for it.

“‎What have we done to our infrastructure – power, rail, road and social infrastructure, education and health? Just  check and find out. We became very wasteful.”

Azeez