The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, is expected to be in Nigeria from tomorrow, Monday to offer helping hands in turning the fortunes of the nation’s economy that has gone into recession. He is expected to spend three-day day to discuss how to stimulate the comatose economic.
According to the statement obtained from the bank’s official website today, Sunday, Adesina will meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emiefele, to find quick ways of strengthening the economy and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.
According to the statement, the AfDB President will meet government/policy-makers, the private sector and development partners to discuss the challenges facing Nigeria and highlight the AfDB’s commitment to further strengthen its partnership with Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Edo state election for next week, Godwin Obaseki has said that the present economic recession in the country is a lesson for Nigerians to think fast and secure a brighter future.
Obaseki, who spoke in Benin today, Sunday at a forum where some members of students union in tertiary institutions across the state endorsed him as their candidate for the state governorship election slated for Sept. 28 said: “to me, I will say the present economy crisis is a good omen for us. We need to think and act fast.
“Spending more than17 billion dollars on food importation yearly should not be for country such as Nigeria because we have the resources. We have the land and human resources that can produce same food we import, only if we can evolve policies that will make it for the youth to be effectively deployed to production.”
He said that the youth constituted the larger productive segment, insisting that policies that would engage the youth productively was necessary to fight crime and improve the economy. Obaseki said that he wanted to be the governor of the state to make the state better and improve the standard of living of the people.
“I am not in the race to acquire more wealth, because am already blessed. I want to be successful by translating what I have attained to those who need it. We are in a race against time, population is growing rapidly, but infrastructure is not growing in a corresponding way.
“There is need for us, as a state and people, to plan ahead before we are caught in the web. I want to be part of this plan, which account for the reason why am seeking to be governor of this state.” [myad]
