President Muhammadu Buhari |
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday assured Nigerians
that his administration would approach the nation’s economic challenges with
the same commitment it had put into fighting corruption and terrorism.
Buhari made the promise while launching the country’s
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017-2020 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While saying his administration inherited numerous
challenges, the President recalled that his political campaign was based on a
recognition of the difficult situation Nigeria was in and the need to bring
positive and enduring change.
He said he remained committed to his electoral promise to
change the way of doing things and change Nigeria for good.
The President stated, “We are committed to delivering on the
three key areas that we promised; these are improving security, tackling
corruption and revitalising the economy. Security in the North-East and other
parts of Nigeria is significantly better today than when we came in.
“With regards to our fight against corruption, as you all
know, our law enforcement agencies are prosecuting very many cases of
corruption. Our successes in these two areas are clear for all to see.
“I want to assure all Nigerians that we are approaching the
solution to our economic challenges with the same will and commitment that we
have demonstrated in the fight against corruption and in the fight against
terrorism and militancy.”
Buhari said the ERGP had brought the government’s sectoral
plans for agriculture and food security, energy and transport infrastructure,
industrialisation and social investments together a single document.
According to him, the plan builds on the Strategic
Implementation Plan and sets out an ambitious road map to return the economy to
growth, and to achieve a seven per cent growth rate by 2020.
The President added that the government’s aim was to
optimise local content and empower local businesses, noting that the plan was
to place the nation on the path of sustained growth.
Buhari said, “We seek not just to take the Nigerian economy
out of recession, but to place it on a path of sustained, inclusive and
diversified growth.
“We are determined to change Nigeria from an
import-dependent country to a producing nation. We must become a nation where
we grow what we eat and consume what we produce. We must strive to have a
strong naira and productive economy.
“The plan I am launching today, therefore, sets out what we,
as a government, are committed to do, to create the enabling environment for
business to thrive. The plan is a national plan, hence the role of state
governments is critical to its success.
“I, therefore, wish to appeal to the state governments to
draw inspiration and strategic direction from the plan to articulate their
economic programmes, particularly in the development of the real sector.”
Buhari also called on all Nigerians to work with the
government to ensure that the objectives of the plan were realised.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma,
said from when he was campaigning, Buhari had shown commitment to change
Nigeria in a fundamental way.
He said the ERGP was a fulfilment of his promise to
re-invigorate the economy and noted that while the plan had just been formally
launched, its implementation had started earlier.
The minister stated that the plan put together in one place
for easy access all the sectoral plans that the government had been working on
from inception, including the Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016
Budget.
He assured Nigerians that the plan would be effectively
implemented.
“Whilst the Ministry of Budget and Planning will be
coordinating the plan, the President has approved that a special delivery unit
be created in the Presidency to monitor its implementation and remove all
bottlenecks to the plan’s implementation,” he added
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, described the
plan as a promise kept.
He said because the National Assembly was carried along in
preparing it, the federal lawmakers would make it work.
“I pledge that we will make this work because we were
consulted and we are part of it. We are also working closely with the Ease of
Doing Business Committee. It is a great document and we will ensure its
implementation,” Saraki stated.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,
also pledged the support of the lower chamber of the National Assembly for the
plan and made a case for its proper implementation.
He said, “My concern is the implementation, but we have been
reassured by the minister that it will not go the way of good visions in the
past that failed because they were never implemented.
“We have in the person of Mr. President a good captain. I
pledge the unalloyed support of the House to the implementation of this
document and we promise that we will follow through to see that this document
is implemented because this nation is a burial ground for good ideas that were
never implemented.”
The Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari,
said the plan marked a milestone in the economic management process of the
country.
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