If assets and resources available to Nigeria were properly managed, she
would be prosperous and peaceful. But the poverty and insecurity we are
experiencing today are results of decades of neglect and resource
mismanagement, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.
The President spoke Tuesday at State House, Abuja, while receiving in
audience the board of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, led by the
Group Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Ikazoboh.
Stressing that government remains committed to the goals of securing the
country, inclusive economic growth, and fighting corruption, President
Buhari said Nigeria was in a unique position as the most populous and
resource-rich nation on the African continent, adding that the resources
would be harnessed and properly managed, to engender a prosperous and
peaceful country.
The President said his government was not only determined to reverse the
trend of squander-mania and mismanagement, “we have made progress in
some areas such as agriculture.”
He, therefore, appealed to Ecobank Transnational Incorporated to
“institute a special fund to develop agriculture, which will cement your
legacy as a bank that helped to transform this region’s economic
fortunes.”
President Buhari commended Ecobank for being active in promoting
financial inclusion, noting that it is key to the government’s
diversification agenda.
On requests by the bank for decongestion of Apapa ports, and rebuilding
of the transnational Lagos-Badagry-Seme road, he responded: “We are
aware and are working in all those areas, and by the grace of God, you
will start seeing results during my second term in office.”
Mr Ikazoboh disclosed that the Ecobank Group was in 36 countries in
Africa and 40 globally.
The bank, founded 30 years ago by private sector entrepreneurs, has over
20 million customers, with over eight million of them in Nigeria.
Mr Ikazoboh said President Buhari’s recent re-election is a testimony of
the hard work done, adding that reforms embarked on by the
administration, across sectors, “will have deep, long term impact on
Nigeria, West Africa, and Africa.”