The Federal government has once again lashed out at former President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of turning the country to a pariah state.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the level of corruption was so high under Jonathan’s watch that no country was willing to invest in Nigeria.
The minister also defended President Muhammadu Buhari’s constant foreign trips, saying they have started yielding results.
According to him, corruption and terrorism in the last administration scared away investors.
Mohammed added that the determination of the President to fight the two scourges has led to investor confidence in the country.
He noted that the President’s presence at those fora was needed as Nigeria needed to be a prominent player in the comity of nations.
“You do not run a country by being isolated and the personal presence of the President in many of these fora is very important because before now we were almost a pariah state and the two things that have been driving investments away from this country are terrorism and corruption.
“One thing that nobody can fault this President on is his determination to fight these two ills. Mr President’s presence in these fora is very crucial even to the economy back at home.
“What I mean by saying Nigeria was a pariah state, is that before now the level of corruption was very high that nobody was ready to risk his investment in Nigeria. ”
“The cost of doing business was so high that most international businessmen didn’t want to come here. Who is coming to invest in a country where there is insecurity. These are the twin problems that Mr President has addressed in the last nine months,” the minister said.
On her part, Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed who was also at the briefing urged the President to embark on more foreign trips so that Nigeria can woo more investors and reduce the prevalence of poverty in the country.
“Ths President doesn’t stand alone, he has a vice president and a cabinet. The cabinet stays with the Vice President here as much as possible to try to address those challenges you are talking about on a daily basis.
But the investment that we make with the President’s trips is well worth the results we are getting from those visits. We hope to see the President going out and advocating for this country to get more investments so that we can take everyone out of poverty. That is really what is important. We see it as an investment with a return that is worthwhile” she said.
The President is billed to visit Egypt on Friday. He is also scheduled to embark on trips to Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming days.
