•Innovation Fund to be established for youths
•Ezekwesili says no to ‘archaic economic policies’
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday gave an assurance that the 2016 budget will become operational “in the next few days” as Nigerians anxiously await action from the National Assembly on the budget which was returned to it by the presidency for correction.
The reconciliation committee of the National Assembly on the budget is currently working on lapses noted by the executive after details of the budget were submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The lapses prevented the president from assenting to the bill.
But Vice President Osinbajo said yesterday that once Buhari signs the appropriation bill into law, government will get cracking to cover lost grounds.
He spoke at the annual conference of The Platform, a non-denominational conference organised by the Covenant Christian Centre, Abuja.
Former Minister of Education and social critic, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, who also spoke at the forum, deplored the economic policies of the federal government, saying they are similar to the same ones he introduced during his tenure as military head of state between 1984 and 1985.
Ezekwesili said the policies are not only encouraging massive corruption and abuse of power, but are also hurting the poor they were intended to help.
Osinbajo said the budget will tackle adequately the problem of electricity in the country as government plans to resume work immediately on power projects left uncompleted by the last administration.
For the umpteenth time the vice president responded to criticism that government has abandoned the change agenda.
He said the agenda is still firmly on course and that critics are just being impatient with government.
His words:”Nearly a year on, there are many problems and many have asked where is the change? Is this the change we voted for? Even some fifth columnists in our midst have suggested bring back corruption.
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is completely and irrevocably committed to change. We believe that though it may not be easy, though the early signs may be confusing and sometimes discouraging, there has never been a better opportunity than now to turn the country in the direction of success.
“Today we have the best opportunity in decades for profound change. It is an opportunity in a generation. A revolution whose time has come! Everything around us tells us that the moment is now! Can this change happen? Yes it can! Yes it must! What do you have in your hands to make it happen? We have a country that is tired of corruption, tired of leadership without values, tired of an economy that is neither designed to accommodate enterprise, nor to create opportunity and wealth for the majority. ”
He said that the “new day in Aso Rock” is that of a Presidency that is committed to ensuring a departure from the past culture of corruption and profligacy in government.
Osinbajo added: “We have a leadership, a leader that is ready to challenge the rotten system, one that has said he is ready to kill corruption rather than let corruption kill us.
“We believe that though it may not be easy, though the early signs may be confusing and sometimes discouraging, there has never been a better opportunity than now to turn the country in the direction of success.”
He announced the coming of an Innovation Fund this year which would deploy significant resources for the aim of creating opportunities for the youth to access fund for innovation and entrepreneurship.
He highlighted other plans as:
*Establishment of technology innovation hubs across the country; two super hubs (in Lagos and Abuja) and six regional hubs in the six geo-political zones in partnership some major technology companies;
*65,000 young Nigerians to be trained in hardware and software services and in animation;
*to create a reservoir in technology capacity that can be exported annually abroad like the case of India;
*on June 23, 2016, Federal Government would launch a Presidential Technology Innovation Initiative targeted at 50 Nigerians engaged in innovative start-ups to be mentored by major technology innovation companies
*bursary award to 100,000 STEM undergraduates developing their interests in programming, robotic and animation technology, in addition to deploying technology in the training of the 500,000 teachers that are expected to be employed under the social investment of government this year,
*VP’s Office to institute a literary prize in poetry and short stories during independence anniversary to encourage field of humanity/arts
Speaking on the Buhari Administration’s economic policies, Dr. Ezekwesili said government will have to adopt a pragmatic approach in dealing with the nation’s economic challenges.
She said: “During the first coming of this our new president, a command and control economic system was adopted. During that era, inflation spiraled. During that era, jobs were lost. During that era, the economic growth level dipped. That era wasn’t the best of eras in economic progress.
“What did not work in 1984 cannot possibly be a solution in a global economy that’s much more integrated. In over one year, the president is still holding to the premise that command and control is the only way out. In a year we have lost the single digits inflation status we maintained in past administrations.”
She added, “The president comes into this economic philosophy on the premise that he does not want the poor to suffer. I can relate to that, a leader must not allow the poor to suffer, especially a leader who knows that most of his votes came not from the elite but from the poor.
“The problem though is that the intention and the outcome are diverged. The weakest and the most vulnerable suffer the impact of inflation the most. Enormous power is being abused as a result of opaque economic policies. Companies are suddenly finding themselves unable to produce because they’re unable to access foreign exchange.”
