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President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his delight over Nigeria’s current status as the “largest economy in Africa”, but said he will feel better when the title begins to reflect in the pockets of citizens of the nation.
The President stated this in an interview with TheSignature50 magazine, noting that his administration is working to ensure that the lives of Nigerians improve beyond ratings and indices.
“We have been rated as Africa’s largest economy by different verifiable indices. How does that make one feel as President of Nigeria? Of course, one feels good. But that is not enough,” said President Buhari.
“I will feel a lot better when we go beyond just rating and statistics, and the majority of Nigerians begin to feel the impact of that rating.
“When Nigerians prosper, when the quality of their lives improves dramatically when our status as the largest economy reflects in their pockets, then I will feel a lot better.”
The President also listed some successes of his administration so far, stating that Nigeria’s economy is no longer in the forlorn state that it used to be.
He explained that the progress being made is not as fast as he would have wanted, however the deliverables achieved so far gives hope that things are looking up.
“Our experience as a mono-product economy is that whenever any international upheaval affects the price of oil, Nigeria is drastically affected,” said President Buhari.
“The vision we have is to put our economy in a shape that the rain does not need to beat us when rainy days come in the international oil market. We should be able to hold our own with other sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, and many others. That is the national plan and vision.”
Buhari said the country is doing a lot with China because the Asian country has passed through the same trajectory and succeeded.
“Why then can’t we benefit from our relationship, which continues to improve by the day, with great possibilities available?” he said.
“From discipline, national cohesion, emphasis on science and technology, pro-poor policies, and many others, China has become one of the largest economies in the world, all within about four decades. Nigeria has a lot to learn from this, and at the end of the day, we shall be the better for it.”
He assured that his administration will try, as much as possible, to cushion the effect of the pandemic on Nigerians.
