President Muhammadu Buhari has noted that the current global economic meltdown might well turn out to be a blessing for Nigeria as the crisis would stimulate the latent economic opportunities which had been left untapped for decades.
Buhari who since assumption of office has failed to unveil his administrations economic policies to the Nigerian people, pledged the commitment of his government to uplift the nation’s economy, engage Nigerian youth and rebuild infrastructure with a view to checkmating poverty which he said breeds crime, lawlessness and confrontation against the state.
In defending the policies, Buhari’s Minister of information Mr Lai Mohammed, in dismissing the claims that the administration of Muhammadu Buhari had no clear economic policy, only expressed optimism that the government’s policies would take the nation out of its current economic difficulties in an interview on Channels TV.
He said: “The Federal Government has a very clear policy on the economy despite the challenging outlook. “There is hope and this government is determined to take the country out of its current economic difficulties.
The President’s remarks that a dwindling economy was a blessing, was made in Abuja on Thursday at the opening of the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Nation Building.
According to him, “Poverty breeds disaffection, which in turn leads to crime and lawlessness including confrontation against the state. To checkmate this, we must work hard to lift our economy, engage our youth and rebuild infrastructure.
“We can only achieve these with full cooperation of all Nigerians and under a stable polity. We are determined to do this and we shall not be deterred.”
Stressing that the conference is “coming at a time when most of the world is grappling with one form of violent conflict or another,” Buhari expressed delight with the objectives of the conference including promoting national, regional and global cooperation against the spread of insurgency, correcting distortions about the concept of peace in Islamic ideology and philosophy, contributing to the global fight against terrorism and attracting global attention to the plight of those most affected by the insurgency mostly concentrated in the North-east Nigeria.
He declared that Islam forbids lawlessness and frowns at extremism even in normal acts of worship, arguing that the emergence of any group advocating the contrary is therefore irreligious and unacceptable.
“No religion approves of such heinous crimes against humanity; definitely not Islam nor Christianity, the two to which most Nigerians belong. This is a tragedy which all normal people must rise up against. Islam does not permit lawlessness. It frowns at extremism even in normal acts of worship. The emergence of any group advocating the contrary is therefore irreligious and unacceptable,” the President stated.
