President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration’s ambitious policy of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty did not come by accident or “something we just bumped into,” but a deliberate one that would be pursued with remarkable grit and determination.
Speaking on Tuesday at a meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), which was also attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Buhari agreed with the council that the country required a poverty reduction strategy that would usher in a “rapid, sustained, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.”
In a short speech after the presentation of the report on the national poverty reduction strategy, developed by the PEAC, Buhari requested the council to present the document to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as part of the consultation process. He also agreed with the council that this ambitious program of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty was a challenging one, saying that it was one that can be achieved.
The President wondered what became of the nation in the past, “with all the resources available to it” that no such coordinated, holistic agenda on poverty reduction was ever contemplated.
“I was shocked, hearing from you that, of the vast agricultural land resources available to the nation, only two percent of it is under irrigation, promising that “we will make the best use of the land. Thank you for shaking us up. We are now awake, we will not doze off again. We didn’t just bump into this, we believe it is something we can deliver on.”
After listening to the PEAC Chairman, Professor Doyin Salami, who led the presentation, President Buhari cleared the way for ministers to be briefed on the implementation plan at the FEC meeting today.
The plan, which Salami said had so far gained an overwhelming approval of stakeholders across the country had earlier been presented to the Vice President; Secretaries to Government of all the 36 States, and the Governors at the National Economic Council; Development Partners, including the World Bank, IMF and AfDB; Civil Society Organisations and the Organised Private Sector actors in the country.
The PEAC Chairman welcomed the country’s exit from recession but cautioned that the strength of the economic growth must be driven in a way that it would overtake population growth. The poverty reduction strategy, as presented, required the nation to aim to raise agricultural productivity; to address the wide disparity among states and the regions in the distribution of poverty; to ensure macroeconomic stability; and to take advantage of the different economic endowments of the country in the promotion of industrialisation.
