Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo says the oil rich Niger Delta region is where Nigeria gets most of its
money.
Speaking on Thursday when he paid an unscheduled visit to the
Mpape artisans’ village in Abuja, Osinbajo highlighted the resurgence of
militancy in the region as one of the major challenges confronting this
government.
He admitted that the pace of the current administration is slow,
but said progress had been made.
Osinbajo also blamed the economic crisis on the “damages of the
past”.
He told his audience of government’s plan to develop small and
medium scale enterprises, and to also create sustainable jobs.
Osinbajo was accompanied by Lai Mohammed, minister of information
and culture.
“We are progressing but it is slow and the reason why it is slow
is because there have been a lot of damages in the past,” he said.
“For instance, look at what is happening in the Niger Delta; that
is where we get most of the money.
“But when the boys in the Niger Delta decided in blowing up the
pipelines, production dropped from the two million barrels per day that we used
to do to one million per day and we lost 60 per cent of what we used to earn
from oil, that is partly responsible for the problem that you see today.
“We are trying to deal with the problem in the Niger Delta,
address farming, industry and the economy so that this problem you are talking
about will be fixed permanently.”
He urged the artisans not to despair, saying the government
remained focused on improving key sectors that would revive the economy and
create jobs for them and other Nigerians.
-TheCable
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