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.