The Nigerian Government’s transformation agenda is designed to create job opportunity and lay a solid foundation for the economic growth of the nation, Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen has said.
Delivering a Keynote address at the US-Nigeria Infrastructure Conference, in Washington DC, on Wednesday, Mr. Onolemen said “The transformation agenda of the Federal Government is anchored on vision 20:2020, which seeks to elevate the nation’s economy to be among the top 20 economies in the world in terms of growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the year 2020”.
He stated further that the government’s development aged “is targeted at creating jobs to reduce unemployment; laying a foundation for economic growth; and improving the well being of Nigerians on a sustainable basis”.
He emphasised that for the government to realise the set objectives, “the Federal Government plans to focus its attention in the next five years on priority sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, trade and investment, health, education, and tourism” lamenting however that inadequate infrastructure “continues to militate against the realisation of the lofty objectives of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the nation’s Vision 20:20-20”.
Stressing the role of infrastructure in national economic development, Mr. Onolememen said “it is at the core of good governance and public welfare” noting that “good infrastructure is critical to the overall development of the Nigerian economy, which in turn impacts the standard of living of all Nigerians”.
He therefore urged US investors and others investors across the globe to push aside the rumour of insecurity in Nigeria and join hands with the Nigerian government in the development of critical infrastructures in Nigeria.
He said “The transformation agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria envisions the mobilisation and harnessing of private sector funds for infrastructure development through Public Private Partnership (PPPs), as to supplement the increasingly limited resources of government”.
While reassuring the international community of Nigeria’s preparedness to protect their investments, Mr. Onolememen listed the steps taken by the government to include; enactment of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Act of 2005; Enactment of the Power Sector Reform Act of 2005; Enactment of the Public Procurement Act of 2007; Enactment of he Mining Act of 2007; the ongoing reforms in the road, port, airport, ICT as well as the gas revolution plan of 2011.
He said “It is in the light of this that I now invite American businesses and investors to use the opportunity of the next two days as a lunching pad to reclaim America’s place of pride in business development in Nigeria, by looking beyond its investment in oil and gas and take the lead in infrastructure investment: from mining to manufacturing, and from tourism to information and communications technology”.