The economic affairs of Nigeria have been a tragic mess for years, with inflation, depression, and poverty all widespread over the nation, year after year the leaders fail to improve this instead incurring more financial struggle through corruption, money laundering and we keep accumulating debts through foreign aid for projects that are never executed. The last three years of Buhari’s presidency has been filled with empty promises and the same stagnant state we’ve been in for years.
The president hosted the National Economic Council in Abuja on Thursday, his ERGP (Economic Recovery & Growth Plan) established at the start of his term aimed at providing answers to the problems and economic situation of the people, a discussion on ways we can help grow the nation one abundant with resources, and very valuable youth system eager with ideas and dreams. He invited Aliko Dangote & Bill Gates to both share their thoughts on ways of achieving a new balance for the state of things.
“The most important choice you can make is to maximize your greatest resource, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive. If you invest in their health, education, and opportunities – the “human capital” we are talking about today – then they will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity. If you don’t, however, then it is very important to recognise that there will be a sharp limit on how much the country can grow. Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth to the fourth worst maternal mortality rate in the world ahead of only Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad. One in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished. I urge you to apply this thinking to all your investments in your people. The Nigerian government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan identify investing in the people as one of three strategic objectives. But the execution priorities don’t fully reflect people’s needs, prioritizing physical capital over human capital. To anchor the economy over the long term, investments in infrastructure and competitiveness must go hand in hand with investments in people. People without roads, ports, and factories can’t flourish. And roads, ports, and factories without skilled workers to build and manage them can’t sustain an economy,” Bill Gates said.
Nigerian Billionaire Aliko Dangote also added, “For Nigeria to truly compete globally, we must prioritize investments in the health, education, and opportunity for our people, alongside other critical areas as infrastructure. Together, these are the inputs that will make Nigeria richer. You, my friends in government, must lead. But when you do, you will have committed Nigerians like myself joining in the effort. In Nigeria, we have largely achieved growth by extracting natural resources and are now building on that through our physical infrastructure. But we must also remember that it is our young people that will drive our future success.”
We can’t be sure if Buhari’s ERGP scheme is working but there’s certainly hope in the Nigerian atmosphere to blossom economically our leaders first need to get their shit together to give the plan any form of hope.