…Describes Reforms As Necessary Step To Curb Demand
Nigeria’s rapid population growth, without corresponding economic expansion, has made the current economic reforms of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration necessary, said Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
Bagudu, shed light on the imperative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms on Thursday while speaking at th 64th Independence Anniversary World Press Conference, in Abuja.
According to Bagudu, Nigeria’s population has surged fivefold since 1960, from 45 million to approximately 232.7 million, intensifying demands for government services, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and global competitiveness.
Bagudu explained that President Tinubu’s administration recognizes the need to confront these challenges head-on, without playing the blame game, adding that the government aims to mobilize the populace by acknowledging past efforts and collective responsibility.
He said the timing of these reforms is critical, as Nigeria and many countries face a global cost of living crisis.
“As you rightly heard, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said, in 1960 there are 45 million of them. That was the population of Nigeria. Now we are five fold, there are 230 million of us. Not surprisingly, demand for government services, infrastructure, financing to fund education, health services and compete with other nations have grown significantly.
“In fact, in 1999, which is 25 years in our democratic journey, our population was 119 million. But while our population has been growing five-fold, our economy has not expanded as quickly as the population has expanded and with constitutional democracy, the demand for government services increased.
“Constituencies are aware about their rights and the obligations of government towards them. So they want infrastructure, they want water, they want schools, they want empowerment, they want ability to live meaningful lives.
“So when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaigned, based on both his collective experience in life, and in particular, as a former state governor and contemporary student of international history, he reckoned that what we need to do as a country is to communicate this challenge properly and correctly and without blame game, confront it while acknowledging that in the past, a lot of effort has been put to get it, but we are not there.
“The easiest way to mobilize a populace is to quit blame game, admit the challenge, and mobilize the populace so that we confront the challenge. He was sworn in at a time when the world, countries in the industrial world and many developing countries are facing a cost of living crisis”, he said.
On his part, the Minister of Works and Housing, David Umahi, said the government inherited a lot of challenges as far as roads in the country were concerned.
Umahi explained that poor design and supervision of the roads, coupled with poor construction were the problems the administration met on ground, including inheriting a lot of inflation and high cost of building materials in road development.
He however said the Federal Government has improved on the design of the roads and the President has also introduced new windows for infrastructure funding.
Speaking on the 18 years benchmark for admission into tertiary institution, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Maman, said the nation’s laws, particularly the Universal Basic Education Act and the Minimum Standard Policy Act, established in 1983, prescribed specific age limit for every level of education in the country.
Also speaking, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, said his ministry is working to improve water and sanitation access in Nigeria, commissioning several dams and irrigation projects to enhance food security.
Use said the ministry is also inviting investors to participate in river basins and empowering youths and women in farming.
He added that the ministry is also promoting the Clean Nigeria Campaign to improve hygiene and prevent disease transmission.