PMB: Nigeria’s economic performance gives me comfort 

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s economic performance gives him comfort, despite the fact that millions of Nigerians are living in poverty.

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s economic success offers him hope, despite the fact that millions of Nigerians are living in poverty.

“Despite COVID-19, the success of our economy gives me hope that we can accomplish our goal,” Mr Buhari added, “but we need to significantly scale up and engage more with states and local governments.”

“This demand becomes more important in light of recent predictions by the IMF, the World Bank, and our own Nigerian Economic Summit Group, all of which concurred that if Nigeria’s economic achievements are to be sustained, she must address her poverty issue head on,” he said.

On Tuesday, he said this when he launched the National Steering Committee of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which the Vice President, Mr Osinbajo chairs.

The president encouraged the committee to go to work right away so that the Technical Working Group (TWG) could “start putting the nuts and bolts together” as well.

“You may, therefore, wish to consider providing urgent advise to the TWG on the following: creation of the NIG-Fund leaning on the Development Finance Assessment Report, public and private sector funding,” Mr Buhari said to Mr Osinbajo and other committee members.

“Harmonize current human capital development; scale up existing poverty-reduction efforts such as the Social Investment Program, different agricultural assistance projects, and support for micro, small, and medium businesses.”

He encouraged the committee to take use of current development partner assistance programs and initiatives, such as the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus, that have the potential for fast successes.

Mr Buhari expressed confidence that the poverty committee led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will establish the groundwork and demonstrate the feasibility of pulling 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years in the next two years.

“As you are all aware, financing will always be a difficulty, especially in these difficult economic times. The Nigeria Investment and Growth Fund (NIG-Fund) has thus been recommended by the NPRGS to lead our resource mobilization effort and manage the resources in a sustainable way,” he added.

Mr. Osinbajo stated that the NPRGS will combine the regime’s other initiatives to eliminate poverty, including as N-Power, school meals, and conditional cash transfers.

Mr Buhari’s view that local governments, states, and the federal government should collaborate to relieve poverty would be reflected in the committee’s structure and execution, he said.

Earlier, the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, stated that the country’s poverty issue had reached epic proportions, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government responded promptly to the COVID-19 poverty effect and was able to quickly bring the country out of recession.