Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would soon
commence giving primary school children free meals.
The vice president said the free feeding scheme was a core
project of the Federal Government that would in turn yield about
1.14 million jobs and increase in food production.
Osinbajo said this at the 45th Annual Accountants Conference in
Abuja.
He said the government would be investing more in the people,
education and job creation.
Speaking on the topic “Repositioning Nigeria for Sustainable
Development: From Rhetoric to Performance,” Osinbajo said
that the multiplier effects of the introduction of the school
feeding scheme would help to create 1.14 million new jobs;
increase food production by up to 530,000 metric tonnes per
annum, as well as attract fresh investments up to N980bn.
He said, “One of the most important interventions required in the
education sector is capacity building to improve teacher quality.
“This programme is intended to drive teachers’ capacity
development; boost basic education; attract talents to the
teaching profession. Better educated population increases
economic potential for productivity.”
“The All Progressives Congress has made a commitment to
provide one-meal-a-day for all primary school students; that
would create jobs in agriculture, including poultry, catering and
delivery services.”
The vice president decried the high rate of employment in the
country in spite of the fact that Nigeria had recorded high oil
prices, Gross Domestic Product and foreign reserves during the
previous administrations.
This, according to him, has made it clear that such figures,
including a rise in revenue by itself, do not create jobs or
significantly reduce poverty level in the country.
“So, why are most (of our people) poor despite rising revenues
and GDP growth? Our main revenue earners, the extractive oil
and gas economy, do not by themselves create many jobs. Such
is the irony of a top-down economic model; when the major
revenue earner is extractive and the value chain is poorly
developed,” he argued.
Osinbajo also said there was need for the government to
improve the power sector and have a one-stop shop for
approvals of investments.
Other areas of focus in the Buhari economic plan, as espoused
by his deputy, are innovation and fighting piracy; diversification
of the economy in the areas of agriculture to achieve self-
sufficiency in rice and wheat (staples) production;
manufacturing; entertainment and technology.
On the power sector, he noted that “despite the challenges,
there have been measurable improvements over the past three
months (June to August 2015).”
He said, for instance, there had been a 26 per cent increase in
operational generation capacity (June to August 15, 2015
compared to January to May 2015); decrease in pipeline
vandalism, boosting of gas supply; and a 10 per cent reduction
in transmission losses.
Other achievements in the sector, he said, included reduction in
red tape to remove delays; blocking the 450MW Azura-Edo IPP
and the 500MW Exxon Mobil Qua-Iboe IPP; and the imposition
of a September 2015 deadline for the submission of the DisCos’
revised tariff trajectories.
The vice president said there was no going back on the Treasury
Single Account policy of the Federal Government, saying the
TSA would address issues of non-transparency, especially
among revenue generating agencies.
He frowned at the activities of revenue generating agencies of
government that did not remit funds into the Federation Account
as and when due.