President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said with leadership and a sense of purpose, 100 million Nigerians can be lifted out of poverty in 10 years.
Speaking during the Democracy Day celebration at the Eagle Square in Abuja, Buhari said Nigerians should see better prospects in the economy going forward.
This optimism is buoyed by eight quarters of consistent positive economic growth as well as projections of 2.7 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the country in 2019 by international economic institutions. It is also boosted by external reserves of $45 billion, enough to finance over nine months of the country’s current import commitments.
“With leadership and a sense of purpose, we can lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years,” Buhari said.
About 93 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty, and six Nigerians slide into extreme poverty every minute, according to a Brookings Institution report.
But Buhari said his administration is laying solid foundation and taking bold steps in transforming the country, and that his policies are focused on “liberating the people from the shackles of poverty”.
Some of the steps, he said, include integrating rural economies to the national economic “grid” by extending access to small-scale credits and inputs to rural farmers, credit to rural micro-businesses and opening up of many critical feeder roads.
On the small-scale enterprises in towns and cities, Buhari promised to expand facilities currently available to encourage and support domestic production of basic goods and reduce reliance on imported goods.
“For the next four years, we will remain committed to improving the lives of people by consolidating efforts to address these key issues as well as emerging challenges of climate change, resettling displaced communities and dealing decisively with the new flashes of insecurity across the country, and the impacts on food scarcity and regional stability,” Buhari said.
“We are not daunted by the enormity of the tasks ahead. Instead, we are revived by this new mandate to work collaboratively with state and local governments, legislators, the diplomatic corps and all Nigerians to rebuild and reposition our country as the heartbeat and reference point for our continent,” he said.
Government is also relying of the positive performance in the agriculture and industrial output, which have recovered since the recession, even as it has promised to work with the private sector to improve productivity and accelerate economic growth.
“The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index which is the gauge of manufacturing activity in the country has also risen for 26 consecutive months since March 2017 indicating continuous growth and expansion in our manufacturing sector,” he said.
Buhari lamented that “it still takes too long for goods to clear at our seaports and the roads leading to them are congested”, adding that “it also takes too long for routine and regulatory approvals to be secured”. These issues, he said, affect the country’s productivity and his government is committed to addressing them permanently.
Buhari also acknowledged the existence of a strong correlation between economic inequality and insecurity, adding that “when we actively reduce inequality through investments in social and hard infrastructure, insecurity reduces”.
“The disturbing increase in rates of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities can be attributed to the decades of neglect and corruption in social investment, infrastructure development, education and healthcare,” he said.
TONY AILEMEN, Abuja
