President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dismissed the widely held belief that the nation’s economy is in a crisis. He said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 16th annual Leadership Conference and Awards 2023, with the theme, ‘An Economy in Distress: Which Way Forward?’. Apart from being penciled down as special guest of honour at the event, President Tinubu was also named the Leadership Person of the Year for braving monumental odds to clinch the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket and subsequently going ahead to win the keenly contested 2023 presidential election.
The President, however, urged Nigerians to remain patient as his administration’s economic reforms begin to take effect, promising a more stable and prosperous future for the nation. He said while the path to a more robust and stable economy might be fraught with challenges, Nigeria is on course to achieving lasting economic success with the government’s reforms. “I shall start by respectfully challenging the notion that Nigeria’s economy is indeed facing challenges, distress, suggesting helplessness. Being at the mercy of the people, we are not at the mercy of something we have no control over. But that is not the case here. We have challenging times, no doubt, but these times have also been marked by unprecedented opportunities to research the cause and build a sustainable economy away from the rent-seeking and waste that was once the order of the day,” President Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, said.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to inaugurate an agro-processing zone, agricultural equipment, and the remodeled Minna International Airport on Monday.
Gov. Mohammed Umaru-Bago of Niger said while inspecting the projects on Saturday, that about 2,000 hectares would be utilised for the agro-processing zone project.
Also on the inspection team was the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo.
Bago said about 1,000 hectares would be utilised for drip irrigation and greenhouses while an additional 1,000 hectares was specifically for processing dairy products.
He added that the remodeling of the International Airport in Minna had reached 99 percent completion.
“Niger State sells an average of half a million cattle to Nigerians and people outside Nigeria daily.
“We don’t need to transport these cattle by road at all, you can take the meat that is frozen from the airport to anywhere and it will create employment, enhance value chain,” the governor added.
On the agro zone, he said water would be piped from Shiroro dam for use by farmers at the site.
“We are constructing about 140 kilometres of water irrigation channels to this place from Shiroro dam,” he said.
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