The Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal,
has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is laying a solid foundation
for the future generation through his leadership style.
Mr. Lawal spoke at a roundtable with top government officials in
Owerri on Saturday.
The SGF was in Owerri on Friday where he was conferred with a
Fellowship at the 5th Convocation of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo.
He said the Buhari administration was not witch-hunting anybody, but
wanted to ensure that impunity and corruption was eradicated in the
country.
The SGF said the Federal Government had already engaged over 30,000
youths through its numerous programmes and job creation, adding that
one million youths would be gainfully employed before the end of 2017.
He said the president inherited a lot of challenges ranging from
insecurity to corruption, adding that the situation needed support and
patience to fix the economy.
“We have commenced a new journey of rapid and sustainable economic
growth that will usher us prosperity despite all the challenges,” he
said.
“Our economy should have been among the strongest in the world if not
for the high level of corruption which is more evident in key sectors
like education and health care delivery,” he said.
The SGF said the administration had recorded huge success since it
started the fight against corruption and had prosecuted many public
office holders.
He added that the new whistle blowing policy had helped the
administration recover millions of naira from corrupt Nigerians,
adding that the huge sum would be reinvested to boost the economy.
Mr. Lawal said that the government was aware of the pains Nigerians
were passing through, but assured that the government was doing
everything possible to address it.
“This government has introduced diversification policy and very soon
we will begin to witness changes as we have witnessed in rice and
wheat production,” he said.
Gov. Rochas Okorocha said that this was not the time for Nigerians to
weep or complain in the struggle of nationhood, but a time to comply.
According to him, Nigeria must write the history of recession, just
like other advanced nation did in their own struggles for greatness.
Mr. Okorocha further said Mr. Buhari’s main job was not to build
skyscrapers, but to lay solid foundation for other successors to build
on.
He said Nigerians should continue to pray for the president as his
emergence was divine and the purpose must be fulfilled.
Mr. Okorocha also admonished youth to de-emphasise the search for
civil service jobs, but to see agriculture as the fastest means to
create wealth.
