The recession is receding, the Federal Government said yesterday.
Proof: the about eight-fold over subscription of the government’s Eurobond (orders in excess of US$7.8 billion compared to a pre-issuance target of US$1bn).
Besides, the oversubscription, the government believes, has confirmed the confidence level of the international investment community in Nigeria’s economic reform agenda.
A report in Issue 23 of Aso Villa’s Newsletter, Government at Work, released on Monday, also gave 11 other reasons why the government believes that the economy is on its way out of recession.
After two consecutive quarters of negative growth, according to the newsletter, the non-oil economy witnessed in Q3 2016 a modest return to positive territory at 0.03%.
It attributed this marginal growth to the continued good performance of agriculture and solid minerals, two sectors prioritised by the Federal Government.
According to it, agriculture grew by 4.54% in the quarter; crop production is at nearly 5% – its highest since the first quarter of 2014.
Growth in the solid mineral sector, the newsletter said, averaged about 7%.
The second reason why the government believes the economy is recovering is the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which it said substantially raised local rice production in 2016 (yields improved from two tonnes per hectare to as much as seven tonnes per hectare, in some states) and produced a model agricultural collaboration between Lagos and Kebbi states.
Thirdly, it said that the Fertiliser Intervention Project (which involves a partnership with the Government of Morocco, for the supply of phosphate) is on course to significantly raise local production, and bring the retail price of fertiliser down by about 30 percent.
Another reason given by the government is the taking off of the newly established Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), with initial funding of US$1.3bn (provided by the World Bank, German Development Bank, the African Development Bank and Agence Française de Development) to provide medium and long-term loans to MSMEs.
The newsletter states: “A new Social Housing Programme is kicking off in 2017. The ‘Family Homes Fund’ will take off with a 100 billion naira provision in the 2017 Budget. (The rest of the funding will come from the private sector).
“More than N800 billion has been released for capital expenditure in the 2016 budget, since implementation started in June 2016. This is the largest ever capital spend within a single budget year in the history of Nigeria. These monies have enabled the resumption of work on several stalled projects – road, rail and power projects – across the country.”
The government also gave the implementation of the Social Investment and Empowerment Programme (SIP) as a reason for growth of the economy.
All the four components of the SIP, it noted, have now taken off.
The newsletter described the SIP as the largest and most ambitious social safety net programme in the history of Nigeria, with more than 1 million beneficiaries so far: – 200,000 N-Power beneficiaries, 23,400 Government Enterprise and Empowerment (GEEP) Scheme beneficiaries, 1,000,000 Homegrown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) beneficiaries, and ongoing Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) payments across nine pilot states.
It said: “Strategic Engagements with OPEC and in the Niger Delta have played an important part in raising our expected oil revenues. Already, Nigeria’s External Reserves have grown by more than $4 billion in the last three months.
“Collaboration with China, proceeding from President Buhari’s April 2016 visit, has unlocked billion of dollars in infrastructure funding. Construction will begin on the first product of that collaboration, a 150km/hour rail line between Lagos and Ibadan, in Q1 2017.
“The National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP), the Federal Government’s medium-term Economic Plan, is due for launch in February 2017, and will chart a course for the Nigerian economy over the next four years (2017 – 2020).” it stated
Tag: Economy
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Economy going out of recession, says Fed Govt
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‘Diversified economy boosts demand for project managers’
Demand for project managers is expected to rise as government intensifies plans to diversify the economy from oil, Ericsson Nigeria Director of Consulting and Systems Integration, Oluwatosin Agbetusin has said.
He said an increasingly diversified portfolio has created a wave of projects ranging from infrastructure to mining—and an increased demand for project talent.
He said the project management profession has become so popular over the past five years, such that a huge number of professionals are switching careers to join the field. “More projects in the pipeline mean more hiring of project talent,” adding that there are more project management jobs available than experienced professionals to fill them.
“I see 2017 bringing more push for additional project management skills and certifications. Beyond the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential, I expect more organisations in Nigeria will seek out practitioners with specific skills and certifications in risk, scheduling, Agile, programme management and portfolio management,” he stated.
The National Bureau of Statistics forecasts that the Federal Government’s renewed spend on projects and cuts on wasteful spending will spark an annual average of 5.4 per cent expansion between 2017 and 2020.
Agbetusin aligns with this policy direction which he says will have a ripple effect on demand for the skills that project managers bring to the table.
“As the profession matures in Nigeria, so do the expectations of hiring managers,” he observed. “Project management skills and credentials that might have been viewed as a bonus a decade ago are now listed in job adverts as mandatory requirements. Risk management skills are more apt to be discussed now than in the past, when attention was largely limited to schedule and cost control.”
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NNPC committed to reviving nation’s economy – GMD
The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, says the corporation is committed to reviving the nation’s economy.
Baru gave the commitment when the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga, visited him at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that collaboration between NAN and NNPC could stimulate the economy with the former’s substantial reach and mobility across the 36 states of the federation and beyond.
“We in the NNPC are committed to seeing that the economy comes back fully and that jobs are created.
“We are committed to seeing that the economy comes out of recession and you are definitely a partner in this mission that we set out to do for the nation,’’ he said.
According to Baru, through the daily reportage of the NNPC, NAN remains a leading voice in the fight against unwholesome activities, crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and sabotage of oil and gas installations.
He pledged to support the resuscitation of the Niger Delta bureau of the agency saying “we will support the bureau to see it comes back active and see to the purpose it was set up for.
“NNPC will use the bureau in grassroots news and information gathering, especially in the area of pipeline vandalism and with the difficulties we have with the transporters moving petroleum products.
“The pipelines have to be back, have to be running so that should the transporters, for any reason, not able to move these products, we can at least move them to various points across the country’’.
Baru said since taking over the mantle of leadership of the corporation, he had operated a FACTI-based approach to solving issues, explaining that FACTI meant Focused, Accountable, Competitive and Transparent Organization conducting business with Integrity.
He attributed the queue-free yuletide in 2016 to collaborative effort of various distributors and NNPC staff members, who put in long office hours and sleepless nights.
Earlier, Onanuga had commended Baru saying “I am impressed with what the GMD has done in his short time in office.
“For instance, for the first time in the history of our country, we had a December free of fuel shortage.
“In the media, we played with it; we had two photos, one of December, 2015 with people agonizingly queuing for petrol, and another of December, 2016, with no queue.
“In fact, there were just one or two cars in the stations. That is a very commendable achievement; I don’t know how you achieved it.
“If you used a magic wand, I hope that magic wand can be applied year-in-year-out so our country can be saved of petrol agony as we have had in the past,’’ he said.
Onanuga intimated Baru of NAN’s efficient services, including the SMS and PR-Wire platforms, adding that his aim was that the agency fitted into the mould of other news agencies across the world.
“NAN and NNPC should work together for the benefit of the country. As an agency, there’s so much we can offer to our sister agency.
“We are also going to set up an energy desk.
“The energy industry is one of the most important in our country and as a news agency we must pay attention to energy news and not to get such news breaking on foreign media outlets like Reuters or AFP.
“We are not happy about that. We are going to work together on this and we hope we can change this in due course,’’ Onanuga said.
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‘Unlocking our N15 trillion creative economy’
Few weeks after Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode tasked artistes to come up with a structured framework to grow the economy, while government provides infrastructures and initiatives to help the sector, embattled President of Performing Musician’s Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Pretty Okafor, could not agree less with the governor’s vision, saying that Nigeria has no reason to be in recession, as the creative industry has the potential to reflate the ailing economy.
Sharing his thoughts on some issues affecting the creative economy, Okafor corroborated Ambode’s position, saying the solution is the fast-tracking of a structured and organised entertainment and creative industry that is monetized into a creative economy like it is done in developed countries.
Okafor, a member of the Nigeria’s earliest hip hop duo, ‘Junior & Pretty’, noted that although PMAN is already in partnership with the federal ministry of information and culture to develop the sector and curb piracy, the partnership must be taken to the next level with the Federal Government supporting the launch of the Nigerian creative industry through legislation, pronouncement, regulation and enforcement.
He said the partnership will help government unlock the value in the creative sector and boost revenue generation for Nigeria.
“We said it over two years ago that Nigeria was going into recession but we had no business doing so because we have vibrant entertainment and creative industries,” said Okafor who pointed out that studies have shown that creative and cultural industries globally are not usually affected by global financial crisis.
“In the UK, the creative economy contributes about 84.1Billon pounds sterling to the UK economy which is about 10 million pounds per hour. In the US, the value the arts to the country’s GDP is about $700 billion. It shows that this sector is contributing immensely to their various countries’ economies. Nigeria too can’t afford to be left behind, and from research, it has the potential to contribute about N15 trillion to the nation’s GDP.”
Okafor said, as number one in Africa and number three globally, the digitalisation of the entire creative industry in Nigeria could help unlock the revenues inherent there and allow government take their share of taxes and reflate the economy.
This corroborates a statement by the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that entertainment can get the country out of the current recession, as well as Vice President Yemi Osibajo’s position on diversifying the economy.
He explained that the proposed G-Create.ng Application is the digitalisation of the creative industry by providing the requisite data for the entire industry and allow investors to track their return on investment (ROI) amongst other things.
“It also has other benefits accessible through a combo card called the PMAN biometric ID card. The benefits include medical insurance for a subscriber and for family members; life insurance that provides the next of kin of subscriber members N5 Million in the event of death; Pension plan that pays subscribers N100,000 monthly; allows barcoding and encoding of creative works physically and electronically respectively; royalty monitoring and collection and many more benefits.”
On piracy, Okafor said the G-Create.ng structure can monitor and track all the IP work coming out of Nigeria. This, he said will automatically reduce the menace of piracy in Nigeria.
“On the other hand, piracy should be seen as economic sabotage and a crime that allows government to lose close to N10 trillion annually; a huge leakage that must be blocked. A special enforcement unit as is done for drug trafficking and manufacturing like NDLEA and NAFDAC must be set up and given the powers of enforcement. Piracy must be seen as an economic crime, called same and dealt with as same through government policy pronouncements and legislation,” he proffered.
Speaking on the reported crisis rocking the association, Okafor the current ruling by Justice B.B. Kanyip of the Industrial Court, Lagos, still makes him and his Exco members the only legitimately elected and recognized PMAN executives.
“There is no faction in PMAN only the activities of a few disgruntled elements whose actions want to stall the current efforts for economic recovery.”
Okafor explained that the economic agenda of his team is bigger than any individual or group. According to him, “Their plan is to commandeer something that they were not part of creating and are not capable of managing. Something that when fully implemented shortly has the potential to fully impact Nigeria’s economy positively. Their action is also an act of economic sabotage and they must be sanctioned. My present exco and I are focused and forging ahead to make the realization of the welfare of the creative industry practitioner and make the creative economy a reality. We won’t be distracted and deterred,” he declared.
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Osinbajo, Saraki, Dogara meet over economy
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday met behind closed-door with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was over the economy and the 2017 Budget presently before the National Assembly.
Speaking with the State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Saraki said that the meeting was purely a consultation.
“We are meeting on the economy and the budget, myself, the Vice President and the Speaker, minister of budget and minister of finance.
“We are aware that the economic team will soon be going on a road show and just to brief us and let us know the issues and just carry us along.
“We have just started the budget defence so there are no issues, these are just consultations,” Saraki stated.
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FG to support SME’s to grow economy, says Osibanjo
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo has restated the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration to support the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Abia and other states of the federation to grow the country’s economy in the face of the present economic challenges.
Osibanjo stated this while flagging off the Nationwide Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Clinics for Viable Enterprises (MSME) in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.
The Vice President who described the SMEs as the highest employers of labour and engine house of every great nation’s economy said that President Buhari has great interest in the growth of the SMEs and stressed that it was the intention of the incumbent administration to make the industry to compete favourably and to even surpass their counterparts at the global stage.
He said that the essence of visiting Aba, Kano, Nnewi, Onitsha and any other parts of the country is to interact with the people, identify their problems and as well finding a lasting way to tackle some of the challenges that are hindering the SMEs from performing optimally.
“Mr. President gave two examples of how some of our agencies make it difficult for people to be able to register anything or do business and I think that everybody today understands that if we are talking about diversification of Improving our economy, it starts from those who are manufacturing, those who are doing local manufacturing. I am sure you know that the biggest employer of labour and the largest earning to our GDP comes from the local manufacturers and the local industries; that is how it is in everywhere in the world. Our focus is to support the local industry.
“I have seen all sorts of things today. I want to encourage those who are in manufacturing and industry to know that whatever that it will get you to do you business well and to become major competitors worldwide, that is exactly what we intend to do and that is why we are going round, we are making sure that we understand what the problems are so that we can be able to address all of those problems. We are looking forward to a greater Aba, an Aba that will compete with any of the industries that are established in China and any other part of the world.”
Earlier in his remarks, the State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu said that the choice for Aba for the flag off of the MSME Clinics was apt and that Aba merited it.
Ikpeazu who hailed the resilience of Aba manufacturers and industrialists said that the state government was working assiduously to ensure that the goods of the SMEs produced in Aba will get the requisite certification to meet best global practices and standard.
Lauding the energy that the Aba manufacturers deploy in getting their wares produced, Ikpeazu said that he was excited that the efforts of the state government in promoting Aba made wares have been receiving acceptance and at the same time, getting the endorsement of the President of the country, Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor urged the manufacturers to be proud of what they produce, adding that the state government was building “a one-stop shop specifically to make businesses to excel” and promised that the state would be giving land freely to any agency of the federal government involved in the certification of locally manufactured goods that wishes to establish its office(s) in any part of the state.
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Economy: Buhari’s government confused, adamant, says Ezekwesili
Former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has described the economic policies of the government as “confusing,” expressing regret that in spite of the confusion, the government remains “adamant.”
Ezekwesili, convener of the Bring Back Our Girls and former minister was speaking in the current edition of The Interview magazine.
Answering a question on the call for diversification, she said: “I am not a fan of the economic policies of this government so far; I feel it’s too tentative in making even the right policy decisions and even when it tries to make the right policy decisions, it has been in the breach. It has been very confusing.”
In a statement, the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview, Azu Ishiekwene, described the interview as “a no-nonsense call to reflection. Oby is not treading on eggshells. It’s bareknuckle stuff.”
Ezekwesili said: “It’s not that the government is timid; it’s about doing the wrong things and being adamant about them.”
She cited the government’s monetary and fiscal policies as key areas of denial of “empirical evidence” and called for structural reforms and better citizen engagement.
In the interview, conducted before the BBOG’s visit to Sambisa, Ezekwesili wept over the fate of the remaining Chibok girls, saying the episode had exposed the Federal Governments in their “worst form.”
She spoke on what she would do if President Muhammadu Buhari invited her to serve; her perception of former President Goodluck Jonathan and her relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Also in this edition, the founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi, spoke, among other things, on why he is not in Buhari’s cabinet and on Nigeria’s “self-inflicted recession.”
Entrepreneur Mo Abudu; leadership capital enthusiast, Linus Okorie; and pharmacist-turned-bag designer, Maureen Obayewa, also share their experiences. -
Economy worsening, Organized private sector warns FG
The Organized Private Sector (OPS) on Monday warned the Federal Government that the Nigerian economy is getting worse by the day and having adverse effect on the sector.
The President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Udenba-Jacobs made a presentation on behalf of the OPS to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo during the 2nd Presidential Business Forum at the State House, Abuja.
The OPS comprises of the MAN, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria
Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME) and Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI).The MAN President listed the various challenges the sector has been facing under the present administration.
He urged the Federal Government to urgently addressed the challenges towards reviving the economy; revitalizing the industrial sector; growing MSMEs and creating employment for its citizenry.
He said: “We believe that the under – listed challenges should be addressed urgently: (a) Access to Foreign Exchange by the Real Sector: Access to forex has been a major challenge to businesses in the last two years. We are aware, and commend the Government on the various steps taken to resolve this issue including the standing directive by the CBN to Banks to channel minimum 60% of available Forex to manufacturers.
“The challenge this policy is currently facing is that there is inadequate monitoring mechanism to ensure that the policy achieves its desired result of allocating the stipulated percentage of Forex to bonafide manufacturers.
“The CBN list of 41 items is made up of 440 tariff lines. 31 out of the CBN list of items not valid for forex contain 393 tariff lines which are finished products. Those finished products may be retained on the list of items excluded from the official foreign exchange market.
“The remaining 10 items of 47 tariff lines are essential industrial raw materials that are either not readily available locally or there is a yawning gap between local production and national demand. Our position was made known to the Presidential Reconciliation Committee on this matter through the Honourable Minister of Finance in 2016,” he said.
He said that the government through the CBN should ensure that the 60% concessionary forex allocation to the manufacturing sector for raw materials and machinery importation is strictly implemented.
According to the group, the federal government should review the list of 41 items banned by the CBN from accessing foreign exchange in the interbank forex market so as to remove raw materials components that cannot be sourced locally.
Noting that the group supports the Administration’s push for economic diversification and resource based industrialization policy, he however advocated for policy consistency and coherence in order to achieve sustainability of the policy thrust.
The group also urged the Government to continue to dialogue with the various stakeholders with a view to articulating more appropriate fiscal and monetary policy incentives that will ensure the realization of the goal of economic diversification.
He said: “We strongly recommend that all major economic policies of Government geared towards diversification of the economy should be backed by law to ensure commitment and prevent reversals.
In the welcome address, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said the main plan of the government’s economic plan is the sustenance of the robust private sector partnership.
“Indeed, it is our strong believe that sustenanable economic growth is only possible if it is private sector led and a great of attention has been paid as you will possibly find in sustaining private sector leadership especially in the plan of economic recovery and growth plan 2017 which is to be launched next month.”
Ministers including Kemi Adeosun (Finance), Udoma Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning), Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade and Investment), Babatunde Fashola (Power, Works and Housing) and Lai Mohammed (Information) assured the group of government’s measures to turn around the economy.
Making presentation on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan: (ERGP), Udoma said that the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 2016 Budget was developed early in 2016, which laid down government’s key socio-economic development aspirations and strategies, as a pre-cursor to a fuller medium term plan.
He said that the Medium Term Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020) is being finalized to address current economic challenges, restore growth, and reposition the economy for sustained inclusive growth.
He said: “The ERGP is different from the previous plans and visions that have been developed and not effectively implemented.
“Implementation of the ERGP will be driven by: Strong political will; Close partnership and strong collaboration between public and private sectors, especially in the areas of Agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, services and infrastructure; Rigorous Implementation Plan (for instance, the ERGP forms the basis of the 2017 Budget); and Delivery unit.
“The ERGP builds on the existing 2016 SIP, and contains strategic objectives and enablers required to revive the economy. 59 strategies have been developed for implementation to achieve the strategic objectives of the ERGP.” He said
He listed twelve strategies developed for the success of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan:
The strategies, he said, included restore of production to 2.2mbpd and reach 2.5mbpd by 2020; Privatize selected assets; Accelerate non-oil revenue generation; Drastically cut costs; Align monetary, trade and fiscal policies; Expand Infrastructure especially power, roads and rail; Revamp the four existing refineries.
Others include Improve ease of doing business; Expand social investment programmes; Deliver on agricultural transformation; Accelerate implementation of National Industrial Revolution Plan using special economic zones and Focus on priority sectors in order to generate jobs, promote exports, boost growth and upgrade skills.
Speaking with State House correspondents, the President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chef Nike Akande, urged the Federal Government to include members of the Organised Private Sector in the Ease of Doing Business Committee that was set up recently.
According to her, private sector operators are more conversant with the problems facing the sector and will be ready to quickly bring such to the notice of the government when included in the committee.
She said: “The ease of doing business committee that the government has set up is very important. Whenever I have opportunity to travel out of the country and make speeches, I always try to attract investment to the country.
“We, the private sector operators, want to be part of this committee because we know where the shoe pinches.
“By being part of the committee, the challenges being faced by the private sector can be brought to the notice of the Federal Government quickly.
“The good news however is that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment mentioned that they are already thinking about it.
“If we did not have this dialogue, we won’t know what they are thinking. I thank the government for this dialogue.” She stated
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Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Bauch, Kwara unfold plans to turn around economy through agriculture
Some state governments across the country have highlighted some measures aimed at improving agricultural production in 2017, following the current economic recession, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Some of the state governments have concluded plans to turn to agriculture through the initiation of diverse policies to boost their economy and create job opportunities.
Some respondents, government officials and other stakeholders, made this known in separate interviews with NAN in Bauchi, Maiduguri, Gombe, Yola and Kwara among others.
They said the move was necessitated by the bitter experience of 2016, when the cost of staple food items rose astronomically beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.
Most of the state governments in the country have also keyed into Federal Government’s Agricultural Programmes, especially the Anchor Borrowers Scheme.
Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State said government had concluded arrangements to purchase grains to cushion the effects of price fluctuations on farmers’ income and also store for future sales to people at subsidised rates.
Abubakar, who stated this while presenting the 2017 budget to the State Assembly, added that there are plans to establish farm training centres and demonstration farms in the state.
He also said that part of the agricultural programmes of the state for the 2017 was the empowerment of youth in irrigation agriculture at Wata dam irrigation project in Bauchi South, Galala dam irrigation project in Bauchi Central and Adalda irrigation scheme in Bauchi North.
Abubakar further said that the state government had keyed into the Federal Governments Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).
The Director of Agricultural Services, Bauchi State Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Suleiman Ningi, told NAN that the state government would invest over N150 million to support 30,000 farmers under the ABP.
‘’The Bauchi State government would pay the sum of N150 million to commercial banks, so as to ease bank charges and further empower youths and the farmers.
‘’Farmers are to cultivate rice and wheat during the dry season, while for the rainy season, farmers are expected to cultivate rice and maize,’’ he said.
The Borno State government said it earmarked about N7.72 billion to enhance various agricultural programmes in the post-insurgency era.
Goernor Kashim Shettima said at the 2017 budget presentation that the amount would be used to revolutionised farming as well as provide enabling environment for food production, maintenance of plantation sites and introduction of new crop varieties.
‘’Government will provide adequate farm machinery and other inputs to boost agricultural activities, while all Counterpart funds for NPFS, IFAD and Fadama III programmes shall be paid to access more fund.
‘’We have instituted several agricultural policies and activities in the State in order to encourage farming activities,’’ he said.
According to him, about 1,000,000 seedlings of cashew, 500 seedlings of Date Palm and 7500 seedlings of improved variety of citrus, as well as 21,000 mango seedlings have been raised.
He said this was in addition to the cultivation of 35 hectares of ginger crop at Kidang, Biu Zone as a pilot farm
and the establishment of 200 hectares of plantation each at Tamsu, Kawu, Mainta Kururi, Mainok and Auno towns.
‘’Furthermore, assorted seeds of arable crops were procured and distributed to farmers at no cost, while NPK fertiliser was sold at highly subsidised rate to farmers in the Southern part of the state.
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Cut on import duties ‘ll boost economy, says Kashamu
The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Buruji Kashamu, has commended the Federal Government for the cut on import duties for 173 items, describing the move as one that will “boost industry and rejuvenate the small-scale sector of the economy”.
“That good news is coming on the heels of the recovery of Sambisa Forest and the hugely successful anti-corruption campaign which has saved the country trillions of naira. With all these, our economy should experience a rebound,” he said.
Kashamu, who spoke yesterday in Ijebu Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area while addressing leaders of the PDP and some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who defected to the PDP, said while it is true that an opposition party may not agree with every policy of the current government, it must be done constructively.
His words: “While I reckon that we may not all agree with the policies of the government all of the time and also appreciate the fact that, as a people, we are faced with some challenges, the way to go is not to seek to pull down the roof on our heads.
“As patriotic citizens, we should show empathy, support and offer constructive advice through the appropriate channel and not seek to play to the gallery by consistently painting a gloomy picture and wishing Nigeria and Nigerians bad whereas experts and more knowledgeable people are saying that things will improve with faith in God and support for our leaders at various levels.
“Let us choose courage and faith over confusion and fear. Let us see the cup as half-full instead of half-empty. Let us put on our thinking caps, look inwards and tap into our innate enterprising abilities as a people and continue to contribute to the growth and development of our dear Native Land, for, as it is said, though tongues and tribe may differ, in brotherhood we stand. In spite of what the naysayers might be saying, the truth is that there are opportunities everywhere.”
Kashamu also took a swipe at Governor Ayodele Fayose for his role in the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
At the meeting, 1,500 members of the APC in Ogun West Senatorial District defected and were received by the state PDP Chairman, Chief Adebayo Dayo.
Kashamu flayed Fayose for his frequent attacks on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, saying every issue must not be politicised.
According to him, the governor is only trying to pull the wool over the eyes of party members to cover his tracks.
He appealed to the Yoruba people to ignore what he described as the “doomsday predictions” of the Ekiti governor and rally round the government towards rebuilding the nation.
Kashamu said, “I have continually stressed the need for us to encourage those it has pleased the Almighty Allah to choose for us as our leaders at the various levels of government beginning from Mr. Integrity himself, President Muhammadu Buhari to the last but not least, irrespective of the party they belong.
“It is ungodly to do otherwise. It is a rebellion against constituted authority.
I say this because I am not unmindful of the antics of a Governor in the South West who claims to have taken on the toga of the ‘leader or voice of the opposition.’ Let us not be deceived; he is not.
“As you probably would have known, he is only trying to pull the wool over our eyes in order to cover up his tracks. He seeks to use his rabid attacks on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government as a cover when called to account for his deeds in and out of office.
“He is the architect of the leadership crisis rocking our party in the South West and at the national level. Let all our elders and true sons and daughters in Yorubaland ignore his doomsday predictions and come together in unity and encourage the efforts of this government that are geared towards rebuilding our country.
“That way, we will be in a position to get the best for our people in the scheme of things. Let us not allow the arrogance and indiscretions of one man rob us of the good that should come to Yorubaland.”