Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria has defied the expectation of those who wished evil upon the country.
He said this on Thursday at the official commissioning of the Bankers House of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja.
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Osinbajo further noted that Nigeria is set for great heights, not only because it is “a nation of great dreamers and great doers,” but also for the resilience of its people and their great potential.
He said the Federal Government understands the critical role the private sector plays in delivering value to the Nigerian economy, and is, therefore, focused on leveraging collaboration opportunities to usher Nigeria into a more prosperous new decade.
“With a population constituting the largest market on the continent, a swelling demography of ambitious, tech-savvy young people, accelerating regional integration and connection to new markets, Nigeria has been presented with an unprecedented opportunity to launch the country into a new decade of sustained prosperity. An opportunity we are fully committed, as a government, to translating into lived realities for millions of Nigerians across the country.”
“Every time Nigeria has been expected to sink, we have soared and risen beyond our troubles. We have drawn joy from the depths of despair and found the courage to keep going, even in the most daunting of challenges. The Nigerian spirit remains unfazed and persistently bankable.
“The realization of our country’s potential, at this crucial moment, will require the careful choreography of government policies that remove every impediment in the way of those determined to pursue their dreams and build businesses.”
Osinbajo highlighted the impact of government policies in this regard, including the work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) towards improving Nigeria’s business environment and economy.
The Vice President noted that in the past six years, the Buhari administration, through PEBEC, has “aggressively pursued the creation of an environment that allows Nigerian businesses, at every level, operate without the bottlenecks and drawbacks that have come to characterize their interface with agencies and regulators.”
He added that the Administration is also “building on the progress of these reforms and aggregating lessons from some of the setbacks in its implementation,” with the launch of PEBEC’s 7th 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) on the Ease of Doing Business.
“We will consolidate on the achievements in removal of regulatory constraints around agro-exports, driving electronic filing of taxes and working closely with the States to make their own business environments friendlier,” the Vice President added.
Underscoring the importance of “a conscious reliance on private enterprise and initiative” in the successful implementation of the Plan, the Vice President said, “the plan commits the government, at all levels, to an investment of about N49.7 trillion, and envisages private sector investment of N298 trillion, making a total of N348 trillion.”
“The implementation of the plan is expected to be supported by a range of fiscal, monetary and trade measures, including more intentionally promoting productivity and value addition,” he added.
