By; SUNDAY ODE, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday enumerated the direction his administration will face in the next four years listing key strategic initiatives.
He disclosed this last night during his closing remarks at the Presidential policy dialogue session at the Presidential Villa ,Abuja.
The President noted that during two-day retreat, several case studies were presented on how different countries successfully addressed various issues confronting them, saying that the journey for each country was different especially on infrastructure development.
According to him, as Nigerians benchmark itself against other countries, it must not lose sight of the laws, regulations, geography, culture, history and many other factors that makes us Nigerians.
Recalling a statement had made in the past, Buhari he said what the country need are “made in Nigeria solutions for our uniquely Nigerian problems”.
He said ” as we come to the end of this Presidential Policy Dialogue Session, the key proposals made by the experts are for the Federal Government to consider the following strategic initiatives over the next four years:
” Stimulate significant investments in the industrialisation of agriculture.Develop policies that will facilitate private sector participation in infrastructure projects.
” Introduce policies and regulatory changes that will unlock growth potentials in the petroleum sector – both upstream and downstream.
” Aggressively improve the ease of doing business by reducing bureaucracy and improving inter agency collaboration .Providing incentives for investors especially in agriculture and power sectors.
” Facilitate construction of mass and affordable housing to propel economic growth and reduce the massive housing deficit. “
Other are ” Launch of a consumer credit scheme with the Banking Sector for citizens to have access to long term and affordable mortgages and consumer credit;
” Address our security challenges by working in collaboration with the private sector;
” Fix the power sector by addressing some of the regulatory uncertainties and operational shortcomings of the key players;
” Drive efficiency in public service delivery through realignment of the Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAs) and implementation of e-governance solutions;
” As you are aware, some of my Ministerial nominees are currently undergoing their screening at the National Assembly. God willing, the proposals from this session will be discussed and finalised with them in the coming weeks as they take on their portfolios.
Although ,Buhari noted that most of the proposals were targeted at the Federal Government, he reminded the state governors to do their part especially in the areas of education and health care, which are within their constitutional responsibilities.
” Our collective goal is to implement initiatives that will lift our citizens out of poverty through mass employment and social safety nets.
“This is achievable with the right fundamentals in place. We must all keep in mind that a successful economy is one where prosperity is felt by the majority,” he stated.
