punchng.com
For the incoming All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to create prosperity for Nigeria, it would have to double the country’s Gross Domestic Product Growth, the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said.
Uduaghan said this in Lagos on Friday at the ‘Government meets business forum,’ organised by the Institute of Directors Nigeria, where he was the guest speaker.
The event also witnessed the launch of a book, ‘Uduaghan: Sustainable Development,’ which was edited by the Chairman, Editorial Board, Nation Newspaper, Sam Omatseye, and a former Commissioner of Information, Delta State, Mr. Oma Djebah.
The governor, who spoke on the topic, ‘Delta beyond oil – A legacy of sustainable development,’ explained that at the current GDP growth rate, the key challenges being faced by the country would be difficult to address.
Stressing that the APC was set to take over a rebased economy, the largest in Africa, he noted that with a growth rate of 6.08 per cent, Nigeria’s GDP value was only a fraction of the economy.
He said, “Under current growth rate of 6.08 per cent, it would take 11 years for that to be accomplished. I don’t know how many Nigerians will be patient for that whole 11 years.
“To create prosperity, APC must work hard to double the national growth rate and also the size of the Nigerian economy at a shorter time.”
Citing unemployment statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, he said over 10 million jobs have to be created in the short-term.
Uduaghan said, “With 2.3 per cent or 3.7 million job seekers entering the (labour) market yearly, there is the need to create 12 million new jobs in the short-term to absorb some of these unemployed youths. This situation is not helped by a population growth of 3.2 per cent. In 20 years, Nigeria’s population will be 213 million.
“My point is that a combination of low growth rate, high unemployment and high population growth rate is a recipe for disaster. This is what APC will have to contend with,” he said, adding that the situation is not helped by the falling price of crude oil.
According to him, as things stand, Nigeria has to accept that the oil prices are going to remain low for a long time and work hard for the diversification of the economy.
The governor, who noted that up to 30 states, including the Federal Capital Territory were having revenue challenges and difficulty paying salaries, said the decision of his administration at inception to build a ‘Delta beyond oil’ had been justified by the oil slump.
He explained that his government had worked to achieve its goal by ensuring peace and security, infrastructure development and human capital development all of which had positioned the state as a model for others and led to peace and progress for the people.
He explained that repeated efforts by the PDP-led Federal Government to build the country’s fiscal buffers, reduce the national debt and save for the rainy day had unfortunately failed due to the lack of national consensus, among other factors.
He, therefore, said, “Whatever the APC does, it must forge national consensus on economic growth if Nigeria is to move forward.”
In his speech during the book launch and presentation, Omatseyi said the book may be Uduaghan’s greatest document for posterity because through the book people would get an insight into what really took place during the administration and the governor’s focus on capacity development.
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