jets, Nigeria will be among the first 10
countries in the world. Yet, they are
saying that Nigeria is among the five
poorest countries.”
Almost a month after the World Bank
classified Nigeria among the world’s five
extremely poor countries, President Goodluck
Jonathan reacted on Thursday faulting the
ranking.
The World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim,
had on April 4 in New York ranked Nigeria,
along with India, China, Bangladesh, and
the Democratic Republic of Congo as the
countries in the new global poverty
categorization.
“The fact is that two-thirds of the world’s
extreme poor are concentrated in just five
countries – India, China, Nigeria,
Bangladesh, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo,” he said.
“If you add another five countries —
Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia,
and Kenya – the total grows to 80 per cent of
the extreme poor.”
President Jonathan, however, said in his
address to Nigerian workers at the May Day
rally in Abuja, that the World Bank report
was false as Nigeria is not poor.
“The challenge of the country is not poverty,
but redistribution of wealth,” the President
said.
He said the realities on ground did not
portray the country as a poor nation, but one
which abundant wealth that needed to be
evenly redistributed among its populace.
The President said his administration was
working to put policies in place to ensure that
Nigerians had access to financial resources
to create wealth for themselves.
“Nigeria is not a poor country. Nigerians are
the most travelled people in the world. There
is no country in the world you go that you will
not see Nigerians there. The GDP (gross
domestic product) of Nigeria is over half a
trillion dollars and the economy is growing
at close to 7 per cent,” he said.
Mr. Jonathan also cited Aliko Dangote, who
was recently classified among the 25 richest
people in the World, as another reason to
showcase Nigeria’s wealth.
During his recent state visit to Kenya, he said
he participated in a programme organized for
Nigerian and Kenyan businessmen to
interact.
“The number of private jets that landed in
Nairobi owned by Nigerians that day was a
subject of discussion in the Kenyan media for
over a week.
“If you talk about ownership of private jets,
Nigeria will be among the first 10 countries
in the world. Yet, they are saying that Nigeria
is among the five poorest countries.
According to the President, there are some
Nigerians who need help and they are given a
certain amount of money and they would not
even regard it important to say thank you.
He said if the same Nigerian were to travel to
other countries and give such an amount to
others, they would celebrate him forever.
“The World Bank statistics shows that
Nigeria is among the five poorest countries.
But, our problem is not poverty. Our problem
is redistribution of wealth,” the President
said.
“Probably wealth is concentrated in very a
few hands and a number of people do not
have access to it, and that is why my
administration is committed to ensuring the
creation of wealth, in terms of financial
inclusiveness, and we are working very hard
to achieve this.’’
Specifically, he noted that in the agriculture
sector, government introduced the electronic
wallet system for farmers in rural areas to
provide them access to income through
affordable bank facilities.
Equally, he said government was also
moving agriculture from just a rural
development programme to wealth creation
and major business programme, adding that
government had taken pro-active steps and
policies to stabilise power supply in the
country to enable small and medium-scale
enterprises thrive.
The key commitment of government, he
noted, was to ensure that many Nigerians
have access to finance so that they would be
able to create wealth for themselves.
The President, who said there could be
political undertones in the processes of
ratings by international bodies and global
rating agencies, said many countries were
downgraded economically in the past few
months, including some African countries
for some political considerations.
He said despite explanations by Nigeria on
its economic outlook, the country’s position
was not seen as convincing, resulting in the
decision to downgrade the country’s economy
to BB- minus.
The President said the justification given for
the BB-minus rating of the country’s
economy was based on the forthcoming
elections, which has resulted in in-fighting
among politicians and its attendant effect on
the economy.
He assured that with the support of Nigerians
and in particular, the organised labour,
Nigeria would overcome its challenges and
take its pride of place in the globe.
“We must collectively move this country to
where we want to go. Government is working
with labour leaders and workers of this
country to create wealth. We will sure move
this country to where we want to go,’’ he said.
On the on-going National Conference, he
stated that it was not a personal agenda, but
meant to evolve a roadmap that would
redefine Nigeria, for the common good and
progress of the country.
Describing the conference as a roadmap for
Nigeria, he denied having any emissary to
define any issue for his own interest.
“What we want is a Nigeria for our future
generation. We will lead our country to where
we want to go,’’ he said.
The President noted that the overall interest
of the country informed the nominations of
many representatives of the organised labour,
civil society organisations and youth
organizations to the conference.
“The conference is to redefine Nigeria,” he
assured, pointing out that the resolution of
the conference would be sent to the National
Assembly for implementation for national
good.
He expressed the believe that at the end of the
conference, if the resolutions are agreed by
everybody, he would be able to work with the
National Assembly to see that whatever they
agreed on were approved.
All what the country wants is to agree on
those things that are common and useful for
the country.
The Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, said
that the theme of the 2014 Workers Day,
“Building Enduring Peace and Unity’’ was
apt and relevant.
Urging labour unions to have faith in the
Jonathan administration as it continued to
implement policies and plans for national
emancipation, the Minister said the
administration had ensured and would
continue to ensure that the voice of labour
was heard.
Mr. Wogu added that the Labour Bill drafted
to improve the conditions of workers pending
before the National Assembly would soon be
passed into law. He urged the unions to be
considerate in their demands.
0 comments:
Post a Comment