By Ganiyu Ishaq
[P]resident Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday assured Nigerians that his administration will be taking more serious actions to improve their well being in the coming months.
The President spoke at the 8th colloquium of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu held in Abuja.
The event was organized to celebrate Tinubu’s 64th birthday.
He said government’s desire was to invest heavily in human capital development as a step to reduce high level poverty.
President Buhari took some time in eulogising the former Lagos State governor whom he said possess some unique qualities that have contributed immensely to the growth of Nigeria.
“There are very few patriots alive today that can match the qualities of Tinubu in his contribution to national growth” the President noted.
He said diversifying the nation’s economy can no longer be a slogan since the theme of the colloquium which is “agriculture: action, work, revolution”.
President Buhari revealed that “in the coming months, Nigerians will see much more actions. Government will continue to invest substantially in human capital development and this is just the beginning”.
He welcomed more companies that are willing to invest in the country.
“We are going to hold ourselves accountable. We will measure results
There will always be some scepticism, some have even become disorientated and impatient enough to think that barriers are insurmountable. Any one who claim great change is impossible can only look as an ordinary success
He continued: “Despite the odds, we have incredible examples of entrepreneurs who have set up processing factories, green house farming and commercial up taking systems. We can achieve more with partnership that link up and scale up our respective efforts.
“Iam declaring that we need a new approach that challenges more states and local governments, more organisation, companies and non governmental organisations and individuals, some of the younger people who are here to step up and play a role because government can not and should not done it alone. There has to be all hands on deck,” he noted.
President Buhari explained that the opportunities that the government sees in the agriculture value chain were enormous.
He commended the organisers of the Tinubu Colloquium for the choice of the theme of the event which focused on improving agriculture, saying “from primary production, storage, processing to transportation.”
The President also said “we intend to organise an efficient market infrastructure that will make agriculture viable for investors. We are providing an enabling environment so as to assure to uncertainty and predictability for the private sector.
“We intend to also ensure that the market is fair and worth to transform small holder farmers from beggars to businessmen.
President Buhari also assured that government would speed up actions that will improve food production techniques because technology will play a huge role in better seeds, better harvest, weather forecast and predictable market prices.
“Further more, we are going to keep focusing on improved nutrition for children. We know the effects of hunger and poor nutrition can last a life time. Children are thrown of school out of school to earn a living,” the President said.
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, Dolapo, Governor of Kebbi state Atiku Bagudu and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu were in attendance.
Others include governors of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, Osun – Rauf Aregbesola, Ogun – Ibikunle Amosun, Adamawa- Jubrilla Bindow, Cross River – Ben Ayade, Bauchi – Muhammed Abubakar, Lagos – Akinwunmi Ambode, Kaduna- Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, Oyo – Abiola Ajimobi and APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun.
