Buhari’s Next Level Focuses On Prosperity – Osinbajo

Osinbajo delivering UNILAG convocation lecture on Next Level agenda

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the next four years will address, among other things, the deficiencies in the quality of human resources caused by poor education and healthcare, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

According to him, under Buhari’s administration, 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 at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Monday where he delivered the Convocation Lecture ahead of the University’s 50th anniversary, Osinbajo 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 prioritised the basic issues with Nigeria’s economy.

He said Nigeria needs to prioritise the building of infrastructure, especially rail, roads, power and ports; productivity as it diversified from oil and gas.

Osinbajo also said a lot more would be done in the fight against public sector corruption and developing a new educational curriculum that emphasises Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths, adding; “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.”

He also maintained that progress has been made by the Buhari administration, especially in creating an environment for productivity investment in hard and soft infrastructure.

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.

Osinbajo said with the administration sticking to its growth agenda in the next two years, Nigerians will see the most significant improvements in the 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, leatherware among others”, he said.

Osinbajo had shortly before delivering the Convocation lecture, unveiled the Mascot for the 26th NUGA games and inaugurated some projects executed by the University.

Some of the projects include; the newly constructed Container Building for the University Technology Hub, the Academic Publishing Centre Building, the Faculty of Engineering Lecture Theatre, and the re-modeled University Medical Centre – NAN