My Greatest Desire Is To Lead Nigeria To Become Export-led Economy – Buhari

SAN FRANCISCO, October 10, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that his greatest desire is to guide Nigeria into becoming an export-led economy, but acknowledged that there is no way this can be achieved without building the right economic foundation for the consumption of locally-made goods and services.

He made this disclosure at the 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Monday, where he called on Nigerians to develop interest in made-in-Nigeria products. He lauded the theme of the summit, which is 'Made-in-Nigeria', saying the idea had continued to be a priority to the government and was part of the many efforts being made by the administration to lay a firm foundation for the future.

According to the President, “My greatest desire is that Nigeria moves from import dependence to self-sufficiency in local production and become an export-led economy in goods and services.”

He pointed out that Nigeria needed to diversify its economy so that “we will never again have to rely on one commodity to survive as a country; as we will be able to produce the food we eat, make our own textiles, produce most of the things we use and create the right environment for our young people to be able to benefit and create jobs through technology.”

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, noted that the summit would allow for dialogue between the private and public sectors, as the public sector was beginning to accept the private sector as true partners in the development of Nigeria.

On the current state of the economy, the minister stated that the government was already implementing policies aimed at getting the economy out of the current recession.

His words, “Already, our focus on agriculture is beginning to yield fruit as indications are that the agriculture sector will show quite strong growth in the third quarter.

“Even after getting out of the recession, we will continue with the implementation of our Strategic Implementation Plan, which was launched by the government at the time the 2016 budget was signed into law.

“The plan will restructure our economy onto the path of sustainable growth, as the SIP is anchored on the commitment of this administration to create a more diversified, sustainable and inclusive economy that releases the latent potential of the Nigerian people, communities and natural resource endowments across the nation's federating states.”