All Progressives Congress
chieftain, Bola Tinubu, says though Nigeria has exited recession, the country’s
economy remains weak.
Tinubu stated this in Kaduna on
Saturday while delivering a speech as the chairman of the 2021 Sardauna
Memorial Lecture held in honour of one of Nigeria’s founding fathers, the late
Sir, Ahmadu Bello.
The National Bureau of Statistics
last month said that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product recorded a slight growth
of 0.11 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, indicating the country’s exit
from recession.
Speaking on Saturday on the
topic, ‘Reduction of the Cost of Governance for Inclusive Growth and Youth
Development in Northern Nigeria in a Post-COVID-19 Era’, the former governor of
Lagos State said though the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (retd.), put buffers in place during the recession, the country’s
economy still remained weak with “too much unemployment”.
Tinubu said, “In the midst of our
local challenges came the COVID-19 pandemic, with its debilitating impact on
the global and domestic economies. Nigeria, like many other countries, has not
been spared the impact of the pandemic.
“Commendably, however, President
Muhammadu Buhari has been carefully steering the country through the pandemic
such that the negative impact on us and the economy has not been as harsh as it
might have been. The economy’s relapse into recession has ended but we must
admit the economy remains weak with too much unemployment and resources left
idle.”
The APC stalwart also warned
against wasteful spending amongst government officials, saying government must
spend money to yield economic returns for the benefit of the masses.
He said, “Fiscal wisdom but not
necessarily austerity is required for an economy like ours in a time like this,
to ensure equitable wealth redistribution and meaningful use of resources.
“The years have shown that the
private sector is much too weak to spur the growth we need. If the private
sector could manage this feat, it would have already done so. Where the private
sector is too weak or unable, the government must fill the void.
“This means government must not
be afraid to embark on an active fiscal policy to create jobs, build
infrastructure and develop our industrial sector as well as continue to improve
agriculture. This means government must spend money but spend it on those
things that bring the requisite economic returns for the nation.”
The ex-Lagos governor also said
job creation remained key to end restiveness and criminality amongst Nigeria’s
young population.
“While states and local
government must shape their budgets to fit their revenues, the federal
government can and should spend more to create more jobs for the youth in both
the north and south which is key to eradicating restiveness and sundry
criminality among the youth,” Tinubu opined, adding, “Urban populations are
growing but urban jobs are not. Here, government must implement a national
industrial policy to encourage key industries to begin to employ this growing
urban work force.”
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