Economic Recession: It's about time we think outside the box - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the nation requires what he calls ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking so as to get out of the economic doldrums. Buhari spoke at a one-day Ministerial Retreat on the Economy and the Budget with the theme “Building Inter-ministerial Synergy for Effective Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria” in Abuja today.


The President said, “The challenges we face in the current recession require ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, to deploy strategies that involve engaging meaningfully with the private sector, to raise the level of private sector investment in the economy as a whole.

“We are confident that the level of private investment will grow as we are determined to make it easier to do business in Nigeria by the reforms we are introducing under the auspices of the Presidential Committee on Ease of Doing Business.”

He stressed the determination of the government to explore possible ways of turning the current challenges into opportunities for the country and especially the nation’s vibrant youth on whose shoulders lie the future of this nation. “This is why we have embarked on measures and actions that will open up the opportunities we have seen in the Power, Housing, Agriculture, Mining, Trade and Investment, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Sectors, Tourism, Transport and other sectors.

“I wish to reassure its teeming youth that this Government would remain steadfast in its effort to ensure greater progress and prosperity for you. “While Government is taking the lead in the task of repositioning our economy for Change, we cannot achieve this completely by ourselves. We will need, and we ask for the support and cooperation of the private sector’s domestic and foreign investors, the States and Local Governments, the National Assembly and the Judiciary as well as all well-meaning Nigerians in this important task. “We are confident that working together, we shall succeed,” Buhari assured.