Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo says the incoming
government will be inheriting an economy that is currently in perhaps
its worst moment in Nigeria's history. Professor Osinbajo said this
during the opening of a two-day policy dialogue on the implementation of
the agenda for change in Abuja today May 20th.
"We are concerned that our economy is currently in perhaps its worst
moment in history. Local and international debt stands at $60 billion.
Our debt servicing bill for 2015 is N953.6 billion, about 21 per cent of
our Budget. On account of severely dwindled resources, over two-thirds
of the states in Nigeria owe salaries. Federal institutions are not in
much better shape. Today, the nation borrows to fund recurrent
expenditure.The figures of extreme poverty in our society- 110
million by current estimates- makes it clear that our biggest national
problem is the extreme poverty of the majority. Thus, no analysis is
required to conclude that dealing with poverty and its implications is a
priority. In the course of the election campaign, we ran an
issues-based campaign that identified certain areas of public policy as
high priorities for propelling Nigeria forward. We addressed the
challenges of the economy, insecurity, corruption and jobs creation. We
spoke on the challenge of providing opportunities for self-actualization
to millions of our young people who face an uncertain future with
understandable anxiety.post by expdonaloaded.blogspot.com..We also addressed the challenge of providing for
the most vulnerable segments of our population by equipping them with
the tools to emerge from the crippling limitations of poverty to achieve
dignified and productive citizenship. This is also against the backdrop
of a highly unequal society in which, by some reckoning, the largest
chunk of the benefits of our national wealth accrues to a small
percentage of our population. Our manifesto offered a vision of shared
prosperity and socio-economic inclusion for all Nigerians, that leaves
no one behind in the pursuit of a prosperous and fulfilling life. Our
goal this morning is to interrogate these positions and propositions
before a wider audience and to launch a robust public conversation on
policy directions and priorities that will help inform our
administration’s approach in the next four years. This forum exemplifies
the sort of consultative and consensual approach to policy-making that
our party and the new administration intend to model in office.”he said
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