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Tag: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

  • Osinbajo, governors meet in Aso Rock

    Osinbajo, governors meet in Aso Rock

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday held the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting with state governors and other council members in Abuja.

    The meeting started at the Council Chamber of the State House around 11:10 am

    About 23 State Governors were in attendance when the meeting started.

    The state governors include Ekiti – Ayo Fayose, Kebbi – Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Delta – Ifianyi Okowa, Bauchi – Abubakar Mohammed, Anambra – Willy Obiano, Enugu – Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Kwara – Abdufatah Ahmed, Kogi – Yahaya Bello, Kaduna – Nasir el-Rufai, Ondo – Olusegun Mimiko, Sokoto – Aminu Tambuwal, Oyo – Abiola Ajimobi,  Jigawa – Badaru Abubakar.

    Among the State deputy governors at the meeting are Rivers, Nasarawa, Katsina, Lagos.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of this report.

  • NLNG: Omotowa hands over to Attah

    NLNG: Omotowa hands over to Attah

    The leadership transition at Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) ended at the weekend in Abuja with the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Babs Omotowa handing-over the symbolic NLNG Key to his successor, Tony Attah.

    This took place at farewell and welcome ceremony held in honour of the executives, the NLNG Key changed hands, marking the formal end and the commencement of the tenures of Omotowa and Attah respectively.

    In his farewell remarks, Omotowa noted that the NLNG is an inspiration and it is changing the narrative about Nigeria; same as Daewoo in South Korea, Mercedes in Germany, Toyota in Japan, etc., while maintaining that all hands must be together to protect this jewel.

    “It has been an amazing five years that I have been privileged to occupy the position.

    I thank President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for leadership and support to NLNG. We met with the president last year and he gave us tremendous support. He was really concerned about the growth of the company.

    “I wished we implemented the growth programme with a Train 7 in play now. The increase in volume by 40% would have counteracted the 60% decline in crude oil price,” he said.

    Receiving the NLNG Key, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Tony Attah said that the company is committed to the construction of Train 7, saying that with the instability in the industry, the company has no choice but to grow value and competitiveness in the global LNG market.

    “Our reality today is that as a business, we are again faced with significant challenges from within and without. Fuelled mainly by oversupply and under performing global economies, international energy prices are once more travelling southwards. While domestically, the insecurity which bedevilled our industry and others several years ago will appear to be unfortunately returning to the headlines.

    “Today’s reality means that as a company which wants to continue being successful, we will most definitely have to think and act differently going forward. And I strongly believe-because I have seen it- that at Nigeria LNG we have the talent, the resources and most importantly, the will to continue to be successful and extraordinary.  Successful entrepreneurs go above and beyond in everything that they do. They, more than anyone else, know that without the right skills and the will to achieve their goals, there won’t be any ‘extra’ in their ‘ordinary’. That is what today holds for us all – the opportunity to do better than we did yesterday and the day before that. I believe that this is why today is called ‘the present’; it is a gift, and we must accept it with equal quantities of grace, appetite and commitment,” he said.

    He commended the NLNG Board of Directors, led by its chairman, Chief Dr LongJohn, for the continuing support, describing the directors as “leaders whose relentless creativity, commitment and zeal have served us tremendously well over the years, and whose qualities we look forward to benefitting from, well into the future.”

    On his predecessor, he said “anything other than success in Bab’s assignment five years ago would perhaps have meant that Nigeria would return to the top of the international gas flaring table. It would have meant that at NLNG, we would be wondering about who we are, corporate culture-wise. It would have meant that NNPC and other shareholders would have to look elsewhere for several billions of dollars in revenues over the years. It would have left Nigeria without approximately $6 billion in much needed taxes.”

    Speaking on behalf of NLNG Management and staff, the Deputy MD, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu, in his remarks assured the MD of support. “Be assured that I and the rest of the NLNG family welcome you with open arms, and are ready to give you all the support which enabled your predecessor to safely excel at his job. As you already know, there is not likely to be much rest, but we wish you plenty of excitement and fulfillment in the days ahead.”

    Former MD, Omotowa, left NLNG over the weekend to join the Shell Upstream International Leadership Team as Vice President Safety and Environment (S&E) at The Hague, Netherlands.

    Recall that the NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%),  Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4%).

    The ceremony was graced by representatives of the Federal Government, Minister of Transportation, Rt Honourable Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Environment, Honourable Aisha Mohammed; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, ably represented by the Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Banigo; members of the NLNG Board of Directors; Permanent Secretaries including that of the Ministry of Petroleum, Dr Jamila Shu’ara; Chief Executives and top of officials of key Government and private organizations, former NLNG Deputy MDs and dignitaries in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and beyond.

  • Buhari to Zuckerberg: We’re not used to seeing people like you

    Buhari to Zuckerberg: We’re not used to seeing people like you

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday commended the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of social networking website, Facebook, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg for sharing his wealth of knowledge with Nigerian youths, and inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs.

    He gave the commendation while receiving the internet entrepreneur in the State House, Abuja.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that the various meetings held with Nigerian youths since his arrival were most timely as the country was already exploring opportunities to spur development through entrepreneurship.

    He said: “Nigeria has always been identified as a country with great potentials for growth, especially with our youthful population, but now we are moving beyond the potentials to reality.

    “I am impressed by your simplicity in sharing your knowledge and wealth with those with less income,’’ the President said.

    Buhari noted that the simplicity and magnanimity of the entrepreneur, who is among the world’s richest men, had also challenged the culture of lavish wealth display and impulsive spending that had become peculiar to Nigerians.

    He added: “In our culture, we are not used to seeing successful people appear like you. We are not used to seeing successful people jogging and sweating on the streets.

    “We are more used to seeing successful people in air-conditioned places. We are happy you are well-off and simple enough to always share,” he said.

    In his remarks, Zuckerberg said he was impressed by the interest, energy and entrepreneurial spirit displayed by young Nigerians in all the ICT camps that he had visited.

    “I was highly impressed by the talent of the youths in the Co-creation Hub in Yaba. I was blown away by their talent and the level of energy that I saw,’’ he said.

    Zuckerberg said he was in the country to promote the penetration of “fast and cheap” internet connectivity, Express-wifi, that would help people create online businesses and reduce poverty.

    After the meeting with the President, Zuckerberg and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo went to the old Banquet Hall of the State House for the Aso Villa Demo Day where the three finalists, Tracology, Recycle point, and Mass shuttle were announced to the public.

    The three winners emerged from a total of 4,000 that competed on innovative and technology ideas relevant to solving Nigerian problems.

    Out of the 4,000 that competed across the country, 30 of them had earlier emerged from Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja competition.

    As a reward to the three final winners, Airtel announced N3m each for the top 3, Sahara Energy announced N500,000 each for the top 3, while Dell also announced undisclosed amount for the winners.

    Speaking at the event, Zukerberg said: “Thank you all for having me here today. It’s so inspiring to see what you have built here. This trip has really blown me away by the talents of young entrepreneurs and developers in this country, and making a difference and making a change.

    “It reminds me of when I wanted to start Facebook. I wasn’t starting a company at the time but wanted to build something to see if it will work. And that is what I see people here do, pushing through challenges, building things that you want to see in the world, if it will help the company great, if it will help the country great.

    “You are not just going to shape Nigeria and the whole of Africa but the whole world. So what I will say to the winners today and all the people that participated that I’m blown away by what you are doing, I believe in you and I look forward to seeing what you do and congratulations,” he added.

    Osinbajo said: “It’s really exciting to have Mark Zugerberg with us. I think one of the great things you have demonstrated is that it is possible to live your dream, it is possible to make your dreams not just come true but so fabulously that it will not only influence your environment but you will influence the whole world.

    “One of the things you have done is really to create connectivity across the world so that people are really able to interact across tribe, race, countries and feel as part of one family and one faith.

    “So I think that it’s one of great things that you have done. And your coming to Nigeria has been especially energizing not just for the young people but for everyone else. As you can seek I’m on Facebook and the president is also on Facebook so we are one of the 17 million.

    The Vice President also commended all the 30 winners and the three finalists for their great achievement.

    He said: “This is the first Aso Villa Demo Day but the next year will be bigger and better. I don’t know if we will be able to get Mark to show up for that but somehow of the other, we are going to keep him in the loop and let him know what we are up to and how and how progress we are making.” He said

    He said that Nigeria is going to be built and is being built on the energy, the innovation and the creativity of the young people.

    He added: “Today, Technology has created a level playing field; technology has made it possible for you seated somewhere, in your office or living room to create wealth, to create connectivity, to create all manner of things across the world.

    “So this is not like when I was 25 years. It’s a completely new day and I think that there is so much hope, so much your generation is going to do and I am certainly looking forward to being a part of that.

    “By the time I am 80 I hope that I will be in a position to have an app that will enable me follow what you guys are doing, seated somewhere in my village, enjoying life.

    “I’m sure you are going to have a great future and I certainly look forward to working with as part of the government of Nigeria to ensure that all that your talents and abilities are put in the best possible use and we I’ll support you all the way.

    “We are also looking forward to cooperating with Facebook, I’m sure that in the next couple of months we will be working out the ways we can cooperate especially with connectivity and some of the great ideas that Mark has to improving connectivity in Africa,” he stated.

  • Nigeria Police amongst world best – Osinbajo

    Nigeria Police amongst world best – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said that the Nigeria Police Force is among the best globally.

    He made the remark while laying the foundation for the construction of the Crime and Incident Data Base Centre at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

    According to him, the Nigerian Police personnel, from many instances worldwide, are better trained and equipped than their counterparts in other countries. But he promised that the government will continue to support it achieve more successes, nationally and globally.

    He said: “The Nigeria Police is one of the very best that we have anywhere in the world and I say so because I have worked with law enforcement agents for many years. I have served in the United Nations special operations in the justice sector like the UN Mission in Somalia for about a year and I saw Police Forces from everywhere across the world.

    “The Nigeria Police was there too and everybody admitted that they were possibly the most effective on ground there in Somalia. They were effective because they were better trained, better educated than every other Police Force that was there, besides, they were well equipped by the UN,” he added.

    The Vice President commended the establishment of a Crime and Incident Data Base Centre for the Police, adding that Nigeria was ready for smart policing.

    The Centre, he said, will go a long way in helping the Police address crime using technology.

    “The direction that we should be going is smart policing. Policing that is technology serving and based more on common sense and technology than just manually doing everything.

    “I think one of the most important things that this Crime Data Base Centre will do is to equip the Police, to be able to do the kind of investigation that is required to cope with crime today,” he said.

    He urged the Police to collaborate with other data processing agencies in the country in order to fully utilize the Centre.

    Speaking earlier, the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris said the data base centre will further equip the police in its quest to rid the country of criminals.

    According to him, the project is estimated to cost over N16 billion.

    “This project is costing about N16 billion but this is the first phase. The federal government has been supporting us to modernise the Police Force, to ensure that we move in tandem with modern strategies in policing. For us, it’s very important to move ahead of the criminals, who always want to be a step ahead of us, so that we will be able to arrest and prosecute them,” he stated.

  • Nigeria can overtake India in digital technology – Osinbajo

    Nigeria can overtake India in digital technology – Osinbajo

    ….FG flags off digital training for youth

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday expressed optimistic that Nigeria can overtake India in the market for technology and innovation talent.

    He made the remark during flag-off ceremony of Google Digital Training for Youth Empowerment at the State House, Abuja.

    According to him, the administration will continue to explore creative ways at empowering Nigerian youth.

    He said: “We intend to create a reservoir of human capacity in technology that can be exported internationally.
    Nigeria can lead India as a market for technology and innovation talent.

    “This year, we are establishing technology hubs across the country, two super hubs in Lagos and Abuja and six regional hubs in the six geo-political zones. In partnership with several major technology companies, the hubs will be fully resourced with infrastructure and capacity building tools.

    “Each hub will be designed to produce relevant innovative technology, solutions to a wide range of business, commercial and government problems. For example, alternative energy solutions, creative technology, public services delivery in health, education and government processes, import substitution etc.

    “Several major technology companies are partnering with us in the provision of infrastructure and opportunity in the hubs. Also starting this year, we have budgeted for the training of 65,000 young Nigeria s in hardware and software services and more sophisticated software hardware such as animation.

    “This would mean that we would be building more local capacity to build, assemble hardware and to write innovative programmes. We will also be focusing on technology for media and entertainment,” he added.

    While the empowerment initiative flagged off on Tuesday is targeting 400,000 Nigerian youth at a start, Osinbajo said that the government is determined to give every opportunity to younger generation to ensure they excel with the use of modern technology.

    He said that a special initiative on innovative technology and start ups and presentation of prospective participants have already been done in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

    “This Friday, 30 of the best start up ideas will be exhibiting their inovations at the Presidential villa at the first Annual Aso Villa Demo Day.

    “The 30 winners will be arriving here in Abuja today and they will participate in an innovation growth camp for the next two day.

    “And this is why what Google has offered to do in collaboration with the Federal Government, the Google training for youth employment, the training of 400,000 young people is a monumental contribution to the national plan and in particular to economic development.

    “Everyone of the 400,000 young men and women to be trained is a potential creator of facebook, Uber, Jobberman, Iroko Tv or something that we haven’t even imagined yet. The exciting prospect of this training is that it unleashes the creativity and innovation and the boundless imaginative of the most productive segment of our society, the youth.

    “For any student today I think that we must appreciate that this is the age of multi-tasking.
    You cannot just be an economist, an accountant, a lawyer or a graduate of international relations, or mass communication or performing arts and just remain that way.
    Multi skilling is crucial today, multi-tasking is the order of the day.

    “You can’t just be one thing. You must learn to be a man of affairs, a versatile operator not a mono skill graduate,” he added.

    To achieve this, he said that there are many opportunities as practically anything can be learned online today.

    “All of these business reviews and business journals, many of them are free online.
    Everyone has a right to be rich. age is not a barrier to great wealth as we have seen from all these example of great men and women who have done so many incredible things.

    He said that there are also important opportunities for those in the performing and film arts, which goes beyond actual performing to effective management of talents, their programmes and projects.

    “Today every good concept needs well trained managers who understand how the industry works and how to leverage the entertainment value chain.

    “Isn’t it time for `uberification’ of Nollywood, to make actors and actresses especially new talents more visible to film makers?” he queried

    “The exciting thing is that anyone, including the microbiologist can be the next innovator in the entertainment industry. Such is the versatility of multi-tasking. a new market for the performing arts but also for any other taker is animation skills for movies, education, entertainment and advertising.

    “It is a new growth area and it is attracting talents from every discipline including the fine arts, architecture, software writing, screen play writing and others in film production generally.

    “One thing that I want to assure you today is that we are all together determined to make sure that we give every opportunity that is possible to the youth in technology and innovation. I can assure you that the next few years are going to be great indeed,” he said.

    The Senior Special Assistant to President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure said that the program is part of government’s sustainable development goals’ commitment which would be replicated in every state to lift the Nigeria youths from poverty.

    Ministers of Communication, Adebayo Shittu; Sports, Solomon Dalung and Labour, Chris Ngige harped on the importance of the training to youth development.

    They promised to key into the move for positive development of the youths.

    Shittu said that his ministry will work with the Ministry of Education towards including the digital training into the educational curriculum at all levels.

    The theme of the event was “Diversifying the Nigerian economy: enabling youth through digital skills training”

  • Humanitarian crisis: FG to partner Rock Star artist

    Humanitarian crisis: FG to partner Rock Star artist

    *Famous Irish artist commends Buhari’s social investment programmes, transparency

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday said that the Federal Government will welcome a global partnership that would ensure a concerted and focused international response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency in the North-Eastern region of the country.

    He made the remark while receiving members of the ONE campaign led by the international Rock Star artist Bono, and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and former UK Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    They were at the State House to discuss the possibilities of a global partnership to address the crisis through international advocacy.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande,  Osinbajo noted that it was important that they came to offer some partnership.

    He said: “This is great and we are pleased…Partnership is certainly the way to go.”

    According to him, no matter how prepared a country could be, handling the kind of crisis in the North-East with two million displaced people including children, as a single country “would be irresponsible.”

    He however said that a global partnership to address the situation should be coordinated and more focused on what is required to be done, for instance, in addressing the issue of malnourished children and not attempting to do too much things at once.

    Speaking earlier the Irish born artist Bono said he has visited some of the IDPs and said “we want to be useful to you,”

    He stressed that what he saw in the region was “deeply disturbing.”

    Bono also commended the social investment programmes of the Buhari administration saying “we have heard of the incredible plans, the social investment funds,”

    He said that the level of transparency already seen in the administration is very exciting and transforming.

    The ONE campaign is an advocacy organization with more than seven million people around the world taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable diseases especially in Africa.

    It has on its board people like Mo Ibrahim, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg among others. It was founded in 2004.

  • Commission of inquiry in Plateau not witch-hunt – Lalong

    Commission of inquiry in Plateau not witch-hunt – Lalong

    Plateau Gov. Simon Lalong on Friday restated that commission of inquiry on the state’s finances was not to witch hunt but to put the records its debt profile straight.

    He stated this while addressing State House correspondents after visiting Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The governor said that he inherited a debt of N220 billion, unpaid salaries and poor infrastructure, which the former administration denied.

    “There was no way that we could come and see what we saw on the plateau and still leave them without clarification.

    “The first one was that when I said that I inherited a debt of N220 billion, the former governor said `no’, that what I got was only N18 billion.

    “I also spoke about projects and salaries that I inherited and he said `no’.

    “But, what I did was first of all to concentrate on doing my best so that I will not lose focus; now we are able to pay our salaries in the state,” he said.

    Lalong said that he cleared the salary arrears in order to make the citizens happy and to focus on development of the state.

    “Now that the people are happy, I initiated the commission of enquiry because what I got from the transition committee was really alarming.

    “For me to say that I will ignore it is going to be at the peril of my people,’’ he stated.

    He said that the enquiry was to put the record straight so that the debt would not hunt his administration after office.

    The governor said that the judicial commission would compare what was inherited and what the past administration claimed it left and make clarifications.

    According to him, after the clarification, the administration will send the report to the appropriate authority for prosecution.

    He also denied that his state was confused about whether to have grazing reserve or ranches for cattle breeders.

    He said that he was in support of ranching whereas there was a gazette from his predecessor on grazing reserve and route.

    He said the gazette was only there to create confusion.

    “I knew the advantage of ranching policy so I took my people on sensitization right from the youth to traditional rulers to religious leaders and we concluded with National Assembly members.

    “And, all accepted that we should adopt the ranching policy.

    “As far as Plateau state is concerned, we are into the ranching policy; if you see anybody talking about grazing reserve, it is not in my state,’’ he stated.

     

  • Nigeria targets 50% reliance on renewable energy by 2020 – Osinbajo

    Nigeria targets 50% reliance on renewable energy by 2020 – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said that the Federal Government has set a time target of year 2020 to expand its reliance on renewable energy to 50% of its power output.

    He made the remark while receiving a delegation led by the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. B. Nagabhushana Reddy, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said: “We are doing some expandable work in solar energy adding about 1000MW of solar. We are looking at 50% reliance on renewable energy sources by 2020.”

    Noting that the Buhari presidency is determined to improve access to electricity, he said that solar is one of the options being actively considered.

    Welcoming the Indian High Commissioner who recently resumed in Nigeria, he said he has resumed work in Nigeria at a time of “incredible opportunity.”

    He welcomed the $100m credit facility from India to be injected into the Nigeria economy especially in the power sector and called for more active engagement between both countries.

    Osinbajo also said that opportunities exist in agriculture and technology for Nigeria and India to cooperate, adding that diplomatic and economic relationship between both countries have been “extremely good.”

    Speaking earlier, the Indian High Commisioner said his country supported the plan of the Buhari administration to “make the Nigerian economy strong.”

    He also welcomed the recently launched “Green Alternative,” the agricultural road map of the Federal Government, saying India has a keen interest in expanding domestic agric production in Nigeria and also in making quality agric products for exportation.

  • I’ll apply force to stop insecurity in Benue – Ortom

    I’ll apply force to stop insecurity in Benue – Ortom

    To end insecurity in Benue state, the Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday said that his administration will apply the “stick approach” to solve the problem in the state.

    Violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers have been very rampant in the state.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Ortom said that the approach is following the “carrot approach” that was introduced at the inception of his government.

    His administration at the inception, he said introduced an amnesty programme designed as a carrot and stick approach to ending insecurity.

    But he noted that the first approach succeeded to some level with some people surrendering their arms, while many others have returned to their old ways as they are not sincere.

    Their insincerity, he said, has necessitated the use of force.

    He said: “The carrot approach succeeded to some extent with may people surrendering arms. But some went back to their old ways because they are not sincere.

    “We have now adopted the stick approach. All security agencies in the state must restore safety to the state.

    “The state must be secured from robbers, kidnappers and assassins. We need to get rid of criminals from our society.

    “We also intend to encourage investors and they will not come if the state is not secured.” He added

    The governor disclosed that the state government has started receiving expression of interest to invest from Asia and Europe.

    He pointed out that the government’s inability to pay salaries was still a problem as the state was still generating incomes not adequate to pay local government workers.

    Noting that the nation has so far paid lip services to agriculture development, he commended the Federal Government’s new agriculture initiative.

    He said that his administration’s decision to declare Fridays as public holidays is to allow civil servants embrace agriculture and has been yielding results.

    “It is the right way to go. If we do not have money to do other things, we should have money to sustain ourselves,” he said.

    He regretted the defeat of the Dream Team VI by Germany at the semi- finals of the Olympics men’s soccer event on Wednesday.

    But he was optimistic that the team would do better next time.

    He said that his government has commenced a sports programme aimed at catching the youth while still young.

    “We have the talents, with little improvement of their skills, they will do us proud. We will do better next time,” the governor said.

    According to him, he was at the State House to brief the Presidency of efforts being made to tackle the insecurity situation in the state.

    Briefing the Presidency, he said was important so that the Federal Government would be aware of the efforts being made with a view to ensuring co-operation between the two arms of government.

  • Foreign, local investments coming soon, says Osinbajo

    Foreign, local investments coming soon, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that Nigeria’s investment projections both foreign and local are very promising and will soon increase.

    He made the remark during a press interview in Lagos after participating in the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Presidential Policy Dialogue on Thursday.

    In a statement issued on Monday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said: “For example, General Electric is about to make a very very significant investment in the country. There are investments that are already coming in for railing stock for railways and obviously the reason why this is the case is because we’re doing two rail lines; the Calabar-Lagos rail line and the Lagos-Kano rail line.

    “So investments are coming in for railing stock, there are many such investments that people are looking at, because really, when you look at it, this is a country of 170 million people and a very very vibrant economy for that matter.

    “So investments people certainly are looking at investing in the country. And this is so even in agriculture, there’s an initiative, a major Mexican company, in fact possibly their leading farmers, producers of agricultural produce from Mexico who has come in to Nigeria is already investing in 10 states, especially pineapples and bananas, vegetables and fruits.

    “I think the scope for investments is there, the appetite is there and I believe that what everyone is looking forward to is just signs that things are stabilizing, that the environment is one where there is governance and that there is consistency in the policy.” He added

    On how foreign investments will fit into the fiscal mix, he said: “We’ll let me say that first, both local and foreign investment is crucial in the turn around that we expect, we expect that deregulation and the flexible exchange rate would lead to an increase in the inflow of not just foreign direct investment but also portfolio investment.

    “We expect that that will happen, of course we’re not necessarily overly excited and enthusiastic about portfolio investment that we want to see, this is hot money and it will go and come.” He added

    According to him, the administration is focused on ensuring that enduring investments in the form of foreign direct investment come into the country.

    He said that the government is also focusing on local investment.

    He said: “Some of the investments that we’re seeing, to mention a few: the Dangote Refinery, 650,000 barrel refinery, there’s the fertilizer plants, the Indorama one, the sorghum plant that is being done by Honeywell, there’s the 500-kilometre subsea pipeline that’s also a Dangote project, the gas pipeline.

    “Now these are very significant local investments and we expect that if these local investments are encouraged and we are encouraging them, and they come on stream in the timelines that they have specified most of them should come on stream between now and 2019, most of them.

    “All of these that I’ve mentioned should come on stream, we expect that this will be very very significant in terms of even changing the fiscal landscape.

    “For example refining capacity of 650,000 barrels means that domestic refining has come to be and it means that the impact of importation of refined petroleum products on our foreign exchange reserves will significantly diminish because we will then obviously just be doing practically everything locally, refining practically everything locally.

    “The same as fertilizer which requires import, sorghum, and the various other things. So we think local investment is absolutely important and we’re supporting local investments with everything that is possible giving necessary incentives and all of that. Now, we also expect that with the flexible exchange rate just as I’ve said, obviously this will encourage foreign investments.

    “Everyone knows that Nigeria is the next frontier for investment, there may be difficulties and complications here and there now, but I don’t doubt at all, I mean even going by what we see today many foreign investors are keenly interested in investing in the Nigerian market,” he stated.