Nigeria back on the path to recovery – Federal Govt

The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, says Nigeria is on the path of taking its place among the comity of nations with various developmental programmes ongoing in different sectors of the country.

Osinbajo made the assertion at the 2017/2018 50th Convocation Lecture of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Monday in Lagos.

The theme of the lecture is, “Nigeria Rising: The Path to Prosperity’’.

According to him, the most crucial pillar of any government’s economic policy should be the improvement of human resource.

“I suspect the topic, Nigeria Rising; the Path to Prosperity is informed by the curiosity of what people expect from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the next four years, or what “Next Level’’ really means.

“I therefore, think that I should begin by affirming that the Buhari administration believes that Nigeria’s prosperity means a decent existence for all, ending extreme poverty, increasing productivity and ending corruption.

“We believe in wealth creation system that is capable of taking millions out of poverty, while providing for those who cannot work.

“Wealth creation options must include access to cheap credit. It must include job schemes for the unemployed and cash transfers to the most poor and vulnerable.

“The administration is also working toward providing good healthcare and education that makes our workforce relevant in the knowledge economy.

“In plotting the path to prosperity, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, we took into account the weaknesses of the Nigerian economy and the illusions that distort our real understanding of our economy.

“First is the focus on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures without the understanding of the underlying dynamics,’’ he said.

Osinbajo said the country’s economy rested on a tripod, with two of the three legs depending on highly volatile oil prices and production.

“But we have to understand that high oil revenue does not equal better jobs or better human development indices.

“For example, the period of astronomical high oil revenues was when we had high level of poverty, infant mortality and unemployment.

“Our economy was also being run on a consumption growth model, which is only advantageous if consumption is being met by domestic production of goods and services.

“However, our consumption was being met by import, and thus, though the GDP was going up, more people were going into poverty,’’ he said.

According to the professor of Law, the only affluent people in the current economic dispensation were the professionals whom, he said, were able to plug into the rent seeking opportunities brought by high oil prices.

He noted that the average citizen could not because when the oil prices fall, not only does GDP fall, but the wealth of these affluent people is wiped out.

Osinbajo said that the place of corruption was also crucial, adding that the same oil earnings that was supposed to fund education, infrastructure and healthcare ended up in private pockets.

He added that the combination of theft of public revenues, the consequent failure to invest in infrastructures and the largely rent seeking business class was what accounted for Nigeria’s current economic situation.

“It is important to underscore the fact that our major problem has always been grand corruption, the direct stealing of government resources.

“And we must not allow it to happen again because this high level corruption affects the government’s ability to provide the most basic service to our people.

“It is clear to us that we need to devise an economic plan which will prioritise the building of infrastructure, fix our healthcare system, ensure food security, provide quality education and create jobs for our teeming youths,’’ he added.

He noted that the current administration was on course to providing decent existence for the masses, with a view to improving infrastructure, just like it was also focusing on innovation and technology.

The Pro-Chancellor of the University, Dr Wale Babalakin, re-emphasised the need for only academics to find themselves in the academia.

“We must create an environment that will attract the best scholars and nothing less, if truly we intend to take this country to the next level,’’ he said.

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, said that the topic of the lecture was apt, adding that it could not have come at a better time.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that earlier in the day, the vice-president commissioned some key projects that had already been completed by the institution.

Among the projects were an Olympic size Swimming Pool, an Academic Publishing Centre, comprising a virtual centre of e-learning and a library, a new extension of the university’s Medical Centre and the New Engineering Lecture Theatre.