The former minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma has expressed desire to retire back to his law firm.
Udoma disclosed this over the weekend during a dinner organized by the former Permanent secretary of the ministry of budget and national planning, Mrs Fatima Mede in Abuja.
Udoma stated that he never expected to be given the Budget and National Planning portfolio, given the state of the economy at the time and after the appointment he had just few weeks to prepare the budget and had to start with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which usually takes about two to three months before starting the budget.
“We had to do everything in six weeks. But, I am very happy that I came in and with the support of two hard-working, dedicated and supporting women–my minister of state, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and my former permanent secretary, Mrs. Fatima Mede. And I have to say that having both of them at that time gave me the foundation on which I built”.
The immediate past minister who noted that the country’s hope lies with its vast human resource and not oil, stressed that with the form of the citizens resilience, talent and team work the country will sour higher than imagined.
“We don’t have to launder our image because there are so many good things in Nigeria but just that sometimes we knock ourselves and we complain a lot and so on. But, if you really look at the positives, you will find out that there is so much in Nigeria,” he said.
“The oil price will come up and go down, but we have some of the most intelligent, hardworking enterprising people in the world, not just in Africa because I have been in many African countries. We are so competitive in every field,” he said.
