Buhari may not be an orator, but he is a doer, says Osinbajo

Esther Taiwo

Nigerian Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has asked Nigerians to see themselves as fortunate to elect President Muhammadu Buhari for the second term in office because according to him, the President is not an orator but a doer.

The Vice President said this while delivering the lecture titled Nigeria rising: The path to prosperity’ to mark the 50th convocation of the university of Lagos.

While giving the scorecard of President Muhammadu Buhari in the last administration, the Vice President said he restored medium term planning with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which served as a useful lodestone in improving macroeconomic performance, boosting the real sector of the economy and building infrastructure.

According to him, the decline in growth which started at the end of 2014 has been reversed, inflation has stabilised at about 11% over the past six months and the current account was in surplus at about 1.3% of GDP last year.

“Our foreign reserves can cover at least 9 months of import of goods and services and despite understandable concerns, our debt burden is only about 22% of the size of our economy which is one of the lowest ratios in the world.

“We have very clear objectives, clear plans. As you know, the problem of our country is not the planning…or in designing great projects. It is in the actual implementation,” he said.

Osinbajo affirmed the belief of the Buhari administration that Nigeria’s prosperity means a decent existence for all and that prosperity so defined will be attained if the government is able to address the issues of extreme poverty, productivity, corruption, the rule of law and the deficiencies in the quality of Human Resources caused by poor education and healthcare .

“This last point is possibly the most fundamental, how to ensure that we maximise the potential of the abundant Human Resources that we have.

“This implies that we must have a robust enough healthcare system that ensures that the average person is in good health, an educational system that guarantees education capable of preparing children for the opportunities and challenges of a knowledge economy,

a thriving private sector led economy supported by a business friendly environment, a system of wealth creation options and safety nets capable of taking millions out of poverty and providing for those who cannot work”

He said the wealth creation options must include access to cheap credit for small holder farmers, traders and artisans. The safety nets include government created job schemes for the unemployed and cash transfers for the poorest and most vulnerable.