Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday etched a pathway through which hopes to overcome the ripple effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The outbreak of the virus which has literally crippled economic activities around the globe, with immediate visible effect of record low crude oil prices. Nigeria which earns more than 90 per cent of its foreign exchanges is expected to face economic crunch as a result of this and many other effects of the pandemic.
Osinbajo, during his appearance – via video-conferencing – at the Platform, said that Nigeria plans to take advantage of local resources and create jobs, in order to reposition the economy as the country grapples with the ripple effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The event, which is annual, was organised by the Covenant Nation.
The country has turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the homegrown Sovereign Wealth Fund to keep foreign reserves and expenditure capacity afloat.
“Mr President, as you’ve noticed has done a lot of things,” Osinbajo said, of the government’s response to the economic implications of the pandemic.
“The first thing, of course, was to constitute a meeting of the principal Ministers concerned with the economy and thereafter he set up the Economic Sustainability Committee which is meant to look at what to do, during and post-Covid, and what sort of economic plans may be required in order to weather the storm.
“And I think that some of what has transpired, some of what we are seeing, is that we need to do two crucial things, just speaking broadly. One is focusing on the use of our local resources. The second is in the creation of jobs, of decent jobs that will make a difference in the lives of people.”
The Platform was conceptualised by Pastor Poju Oyemade and is designed to generate conversations about nation-building, governance, democracy and personal development.
This year’s edition was devoted to the coronavirus pandemic and guests – which included six state governors – appeared via teleconferencing.
