…As Osinbajo says Infrastructure, Education, Health Care Will Top Focus

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that he will put in all efforts to ensure the best for the country and her citizens when he begins a second term in office on May 29, 2019, while appreciating all those that voted him during the elections.

Receiving the Board of Trustees and Advisory Council of Gidauniyar Jihar Katsina (Katsina State Development Fund) led by Justice Mamman Nasir at the State House, Abuja on Monday, President Buhari said his campaign to all states of the federation was an eye opener.

“Thank you for supporting me. I assure you that I will do my best during the second term. We will work for Nigeria and her people,” he said.

The President said the crowd that welcomed his campaign train in each state was more than anyone can possibly “induce”, attributing the turn outs to people’s appreciation of the efforts of his administration.

President Buhari noted that he was the chairman of the Katsina State Development Fund for 17 years, during which period a lot was done to support Education, Healthcare and Agriculture in the state, especially for those that were less privileged.

In his remarks, the Galadima of Katsina, Justice Nasir, said the foundation returns gratitude to God and all Nigerians for giving President Buhari the opportunity to serve another term in office.

“We are most grateful to Almighty Allah for bringing you back for another term in office. Our happiness and gratitude goes to Nigerians for electing you,” he said.

Justice Nasir said the foundation also remains grateful for the years the President served as its chairman.

The focus of the Buhari administration in the next four years will be to address, among other things, the deficiencies in the quality of human resources caused by poor education and healthcare, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).

Osinbajo spoke on Monday at the University of Lagos, where he delivered the Convocation Lecture ahead of the university’s 50th anniversary

According to him: “I may begin by affirming the belief of the Buhari administration that Nigeria’s prosperity means a decent existence for all. Second, that prosperity so defined will be attained if we are able to address the issues of extreme poverty, productivity, corruption, the rule of law and the deficiencies in the quality of human resources caused by poor education and healthcare.”

Speaking further on the relevance of human resource development to the administration, Prof. Osinbajo said the government would adopt a strategy that prepares young Nigerians for emerging challenges as well as opportunities.

He said: “We must have a robust enough healthcare system that ensures that the average person is in good health, an educational system that guarantees education capable of preparing children for the opportunities and challenges of a knowledge economy.”

“In planning the path to prosperity we also took into account the age-old weaknesses of the Nigerian economy and the illusion of prosperity that frequently distorts our understanding of the actual fragility of our economy.”

On the way forward, the Vice President said from the onset it was clear to the Federal Government that it needed to devise an economic plan that prioritized the basic issues with our economy.

He said: “For us, we needed to prioritize; the building of infrastructure, especially rail, roads, power and ports; productivity as we diversified the economy from oil and gas; the fight against public sector corruption; developing a new educational curriculum that emphasizes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.

“Others include adopting a new approach to resourcing healthcare; putting in place a social investment programme that deals with issues of extreme poverty and unemployment. Our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan effectively addressed these issues.”

On the progress made so far, Osinbajo said the Buhari administration believed that “creating an environment for productivity investment in hard and soft infrastructure is crucial”.

He assured Nigerians that with the integrity of President Buhari and the commitment of his administration, Nigeria would not derail from its current path to prosperity.

According to him: “If we stick to our agenda in the next two years we will see the most significant improvements, in our power sector.”

“Industrial Infrastructure is a major component of our economic transformation plan. Project MINE (Made in Nigeria for Export) is the major plank of our industrial policy. The idea is to build Special Economic Zones which accommodate industries for local manufacture of goods for which Nigeria has a comparative advantage. These include cotton, garments, leather ware etc.”

Shortly before delivering the Convocation Lecture, Prof. Osinbajo unveiled the Mascot for the 26th NUGA games and commissioned some projects executed by the university.

Some of the projects included the newly constructed Container Building for the University Technology Hub, Academic Publishing Centre Building, Faculty of Engineering Lecture Theatre and remodelled University Medical Centre.