Experts from the economic and leadership sectors praised the federal government for its efforts and strategies that led the country out of the recession.
They praised the National Policy and Development Summit (N-POD)in Abuja on Friday.
The conference was hosted by Mr. Ibrahim Hassan, Senior Special Assistant to the President for Policy, Development and Analysis, Office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.
In his welcoming speech, Hassan said: “The main objective of the summit was to know how to consolidate the gains which led us to come out of the recession and how to avoid the pitfalls which could lead us back to the recession.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world, there were lockdowns, travel restrictions and a huge drop in global oil prices”.
“It has affected Nigeria due to our dependence on oil revenues for its livelihood”.
“Fortunately Nigeria came out of recession when gross domestic product increased 0.11 percent. The IMF and Bloomberg predicted a decline, but the economy grew”.
“In addition, the non-oil sectors have helped bring Nigeria out of recession with agriculture and telecommunications leading the way. This gives hope for consolidation and economic growth, ”said Hassan.
Economics expert Dr Paul Alaje said the federal government had done well to pull the country out of recession.
“To consolidate the country’s exit from the recession, it is necessary to know where we were, where we are and where we want to be”.
“We need to support growth and development by folding our sleeves and getting to work through innovation, income, infrastructure, manufacturing, free market competitiveness, social justice, education and economic zones”.
“The government can focus on telecommunications and other aspects where more revenue is generated to consolidate”.
“If the economy were more open and more competitive, we would have more industries producing sugar, cement and other products”.
“This can benefit our large population which, in turn, will generate more income for the country,” Alaje said.
Likewise, a leadership expert, Mr. Linus Okorie, said the federal government could do better to maintain the position out of the recession.
Nigeria needs to take young people very seriously, he said, learn to know what they’re good at and give them “eight star” training in technical institutions, whether in tiling or painting.
“Agriculture is another sector to get us out of the recession. Invest in different states on what they produce more and give them machines that would turn the products into different products”.
“And in less than a year, people will be creating jobs, having jobs, earning a living and a lot of income being generated,” he said.
Other online participants praised the federal government and urged it to consolidate the efforts that led the country out of recession.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the event drew officials from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Nigerian Governor’s Forum and many others. (NOPE)
(NAN)
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