The secretary to government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal says the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has laid a solid foundation for Nigeria’s future.
Lawal said this at the 5th convocation of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuaghor, Owerri, on Friday.
He said the government was working around the clock to fix the economy, and he asked for patience on the part of citizens.
He said the president inherited a parlous economy from the past regime of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Lawal who was conferred with the award of “Fellow of the Polytechnic”, said Buhari’s administration has recorded huge success.
“We have laid a solid foundation for the future and everybody must be ready to move the nation further,” he said.
“We have recovered billions of naira through the anti-corruption fight of the present administration.”
According to the SGF, Nigeria’s economy should have been one of the strongest in the world, but blamed bad leadership and corruption for the setback.
“Corruption has eaten deep into our system, especially in the education and healthcare delivery,” he said.
He said if the economy must be revived as quickly as the public wants it to be, everybody must play a role towards the achievement of the goal.
“Nigerians have no option than to support us through our whistleblower policy to expose all corrupt leaders and public servants,” he said.
Lawal said the youth of the country will soon smile as the Buhari administration has made provisions for them.
“The 2017 budget will settle some of these challenges because more money was allocated to capital development which will help in job creation,” he said.
While commending the management of Imo Poly for honouring him with a fellowship award, he lauded Rochas Okorocha, the state governor, for his achievements.
On his part, Okorocha said this was not the appropriate time for Nigerians to blame the central government for the economic crisis in the country.
He urged Nigerians to think of how they could contribute to the growth of the economy.
“What we are facing today is a problem caused by our leaders and it is good that those who caused the problems are still facing the wrath of the problem they caused,” he said.
“President Buhari is God sent and we should all support him now that he is with us because there are just few Nigerians like him.”
Okorocha said agriculture “remains the solution to Nigeria’s problem”.
“I tell all of you graduands today that there is no vacancy anywhere in the ministry, but there are vacancies in the agricultural sector. So the youths should go back to agriculture,” he said.
Okorocha, who also appointed Emeka Offor as the board chairman of the school, commended the management of the institution for its achievement.