The Federal Government’s vision for Nigeria in the next 10 years and
more is to transform the economy into an industrialized one with a
strong middle class and a place where the majority of the people are
living above the poverty line, according to Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this at a Dinner and
Interactive Session with some visiting Faculty Members from the Harvard
Business School (HBS) led by Prof. Srikant Datar, a Professor of
Business Administration, alongside a select group of Nigerian business
executives, on Tuesday evening in Lagos.
The Vice President
featured alongside Srikant Datar and Mr. Bayo Ogunlesi, a Nigerian
Investment banker in the United States of America, in a panel discussion
moderated by Mr. Hakeem Belo- Osagie, Chairman of Metis Capital
Partners and addressed several issues on power, the economy and climate
change, amongst others.
According to the Vice President, “I will
like to see Nigeria become an industrialized nation in the next 10
years; with a very strong middle class and most people living above
poverty line. Our policies and programmes are directed at achieving this
objective.”
He said the Federal Government had put in place
measures that will kick-start the industrialization drive of the
country, citing the example of the creation of Special Economic Zones
(SEZ) and small manufacturing clusters across the country as some of the
steps taken by government.
He said “practically everything we are doing is to ensure that there is a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
“The
Federal Government is looking at natural economic clusters. We have
done a lot of work in five of them, we are looking at 23 others, and we
have already set up shared facilities in designated locations to address
some of the concerns in production.
“What we plan for the Special Economic Zones is also unique and geared towards that drive to industrialize our economy.”
Speaking on efforts to alleviate poverty, the Vice President said it is being addressed by government.
When
asked what keeps him up at night, Prof. Osinbajo said it is the problem
of “extreme poverty; the issue is that the largest number of those who
vote for us are the very poor.
“The promises that government
makes to them is that their lives will be better and obviously they are
looking at their lives being better in the shortest possible time.”
He
explained that a number of government policies and programmes were
focused on people at the bottom of the pyramid, especially in
agriculture and trade, and getting credit facilities to people in order
to enable them improve in whatever they are doing.
He said that
many farmers had been lifted out of poverty as a result of some of the
initiatives, adding nonetheless that the scale needs to be improved.
According
to him, “First, the focus of our government was on agriculture which
has the potential to take many out of poverty. We are supporting farmers
operating through the out-grower programme and our focus is to attain
sufficiency in Rice, Sorghum and Millet production.
“A lot of
attention has also been given to the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs)
which factored the provision of cheap credit to petty traders—at the
bottom of the pyramid. We have given out cheap credits through our
TraderMoni and MarketMoni initiatives and this has also proven to be
largely successful.”
On Power, the Vice President said the
government is committed to finding lasting solutions to issues
militating against the improvements that ought to have been witnessed in
the sector.
“The issues are enormous but what we really need
to do is to re-write regulations and encourage more people to invest in
the sector.
“In the next few months, we will unveil a plan that deals with most of the critical issues in the power sector,’’ he said.
Addressing
concerns raised about climate change, Prof Osinbajo said Nigeria would
not act differently as “the momentum, globally, is in favour of
renewable energy and recycling”.
He cited examples of what the
Federal Government in partnership with the private sector have so far
done, through the solar power programme in selected markets in Kano,
Abia and Lagos States as well as the Federal Government Green Bond
Initiative.
On improving trade among countries in Africa, the
Vice President said Intra-African trade is important and is “the way to
go” but that there is the need to address concerns around dumping and
protection of local manufacturers, amongst others before the endorsement
of any agreements.
Addressing the issue of brain drain and
efforts to curb it, the Vice President expressed optimism that the steps
being taken by government to improve the business environment in
Nigeria will address the menace.
According to him, “As people
see that the environment is getting better for business, they will come
back, the opportunities for making huge profits are here.”
He
also noted that Nigeria was open to business as it has a lot of
potential and urged Nigerian investors abroad to look homewards.
“If
you are going to do business anywhere in Africa, it has to be Nigeria.
This is where you have the energy, you have the drive.
“We are already seeing that kind of activity, business people will always be driven by profit,” Prof. Osinbajo added.
On
his part, Datar said he was particularly proud of Osinbajo as an
academic in governance, stressing that academics do well in governance.
He
pledged HBS’s readiness in providing needed support for human capital
development in Nigeria and proffering solutions to tackling Nigeria’s
infrastructure challenge.
Also speaking at the event, Ogunlesi
said that the era of depending on government for infrastructure was
gone, adding the Federal Government had no business running
infrastructure in Nigeria, especially the airports.
In a vote of
thanks, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, regretted the high poverty
rate in Nigeria especially in the North West and called for urgent
action to address it, advocating for a committee on girl-child education
to be set up to address issues surrounding early marriage and family
planning.
The event also attracted Lagos State Governor, Mr.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington,
immediate past Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah,
immediate past Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo
Udoma amongst others.
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
19th June 2019
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