In its resolve to invest in the social sector of the country, the Federal Government has declared that the new economic blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari led administration would create over one million new jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerians.
In a statement by his Senior Special Adviser on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave the indication yesterday while delivering a lecture at the ongoing 45th Annual Accounting Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) holding in Abuja.
Osinbajo, who wondered why the nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and foreign reserves were high in previous administrations with no commensurate impact on the lives of the people, noted that these were so because the structure and quality of growth were not considered.
According to him, the disjointed growth was as a result of the irony of top-down economic model where the major revenue is extractive and the value chain poorly developed.
The Vice President stressed that investing in the people: education, job creation, national school feeding scheme, conditional cash transfer and reflating economies of the states are the indices that would boost the economy.
He pointed out that some of these ideas have already been put in place by the Buhari administration, including the bailout package for the workers in the country, and some others that are currently being worked out.
Osinbajo said “One of the most important interventions required in the education sector is capacity building to improve teachers’ quality. This programme is intended to drive teacher capacity development; boost basic education; attract talents to the teaching profession; better educated population increase economic potential for productivity.”
He added that the All Peoples Congress (APC) “has made a commitment to provide one-meal-a day for all primary school students that will create jobs in agriculture, including poultry, catering and delivery services.
The multiplier effects of the introduction of the scheme include, according to the VP, 1.14 new jobs; increased food production – up to 530,000 mt/a; attracting investor by investment – up to N980b.”
Osinbajo also identified conditional cash transfer as another avenue for alleviating poverty. He said the programme is intended to support the 25 million poorest households to incentivize vaccination, education and production. The multiplier effects of the introduction of the programme, he noted, would include: lifting millions out of poverty; putting millions into rural production; and boosting rural economy.
In order to invest into businesses and ease of doing business, government needs to improve the power sector; have one-Stop Shop for approvals; innovation and fighting piracy; diversifies the economy in agriculture – self-sufficiency in rice and wheat (staples) production, manufacturing, entertainment and technology.
On the power sector, he noted that “despite the challenges, there have been measurable improvements over the past three months (June to August 2015)”.
He said a “26% increase in operational generation capacity (June to August 15, 2015 compared to January to May 2015); decreased in pipeline vandalism boosting gas supply; a 10% reduction in transmission losses (June to July 2015 compared to January to May 2015); reduction in red tape to remove delays blocking the 450MW Azura-Edo IPP and the 500MW Exxon Mobil Qua-Iboe IPP; the imposition of a September 2015 deadline for the submission of the DisCos’ revised tariff trajectories”.