Roundup: Nigeria's economy no longer dependent on oil prices: acting president
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E-mail Xinhua, May 29, 2017
by Bosun Awoniyi
LAGOS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's economy is no longer helplessly dependent on the price of crude oil, said the country's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday.
Osinbajo, in a nationwide broadcast to commemorate the second anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration, acknowledged that the economy had proven to be the biggest challenge of all since 2015.
"Let me first express just how concerned we have been since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens," he said.
He told the nation that some companies shut down their operations, others downsized, people lost jobs and had to endure rising food prices.
"We have been extremely mindful of the many sacrifices that you have had to make over the last few years," he said.
Osinbajo however assured Nigerians that the government had passed the difficult phase of its program, urging them not to despair but to look ahead.
"I firmly believe that we have put the most difficult phase behind us; and we are witnesses to the ever-increasing intensity of the light at the end of the tunnel," he added.
Osinbajo said the administration's work on the economic front has been targeted at a combination of short-term interventions to cushion the pain, as well as medium to long term efforts aimed at rebuilding an economy.
According to him, the short-term interventions include putting together a series of bailout packages for state governments to enable them to bridge salary shortfalls, an issue Buhari has consistently expressed concerns about.
Osinbajo revealed that the government had also begun the laying of a framework for its Social Intervention Program, which he described as "the most ambitious in the history of the country.
TARGETING YOUTHS
Osinbajo reaffirmed that policies and programs of the present administration were deliberately targeted at the youth population in the country.
The acting president said Nigeria was a nation of young people, and that the government would ensure that its policies and programs reflected that.
"Several of our initiatives are targeted at our young people, who make up most of our population," he added.
He said the scheme was to resolve the financing bottlenecks that had until now constrained the operations of gas suppliers and generation companies in the energy sector.
He assured that the nation would soon begin to see the positive impact of the steps already taken.
SECURITY
Osinbajo attributed successes by the military against the Boko Haram insurgency to the restoration of cordial relations with Nigeria's neighbors, including Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
He said in addition to mending broken relations with the country's allies, the Buhari administration had also revitalized the regional Multi-national Joint Task Force, by providing the required funding and leadership.
He added that the terrorist group, which openly challenged the sovereignty and continued existence of Nigeria through killing, maiming, and abduction, causing massive displacement, had now been routed.
DIVERTED FUNDS
The acting president said that accounting for the funds had become imperative in view of the determination of the government to bring persons accused of corruption to justice.
According to him, funds appropriated to build roads, railway lines, power plants, and to equip the military, that have been stolen or diverted into private pockets, must be retrieved and the culprits brought to justice.
He stated that the government had also started re-equipping the prosecution teams, and that part of the expected judicial reforms was to dedicate some specific courts to the trial of corruption cases.
The acting president disclosed that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government was also institutionalizing safeguards and deterrents in the process. Enditem
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