Osinbajo Urges Nigerians in Diaspora to Contribute to Nation Building

The Vice President pointed out confidently that now is the right time for Nigerians in Diaspora to make sacrifices towards contributing their quota to nation building, especially when the country is presently facing numerous obstacles and challenges.

“I propose that the impact the Diaspora of those nations have brought to bear, would not have been possible if they were not prepared to make sacrifices. If many of them had waited for the home environment to be completely ideal before they start to actively get involved and engaged in their home countries, they would probably still be waiting up till now.”

He, however, disclosed specifically that “in the power sector, the administration’s aim is to consistently generate 5,000 megawatts of power going into first quarter of next year’’; adding that this would involve aggressively ensuring that all power related projects are speedily concluded.

Professor Osinbajo also mentioned that in the hydro-carbon industry, the administration is pursuing a long over-due reform. For instance, “in the short and medium term, the NNPC would be re-organized and this has already begun as the leadership is being held accountable for revenue shortfall in past years.

In the agriculture sector, government, he noted, would pursue self-sustenance in the production of items such as rice, wheat, cotton and therefore considerably reduce foreign exchange requirement for importation of these items, as rice importation alone consumes about $4 billion.’’

While pledging massive job creation particularly for the youth, Professor Osinbajo disclosed that the government intends to give the textile and garment factories a new lease of life in the shortest possible time.

He further promised investments in the area of infrastructure, agriculture and mining sectors, which will absorb many of the qualified unemployed.

In addition, he declared that government’s job creation plan will include a one meal per day programme for primary school pupils expected to create several job opportunities.

He assured the Diaspora community of the resolve of the Buhari administration to resolutely tackle some of the numerous challenges confronting the country, emphasizing that the Federal Government is poised to take the critical steps in repositioning Nigeria towards the path of greatness again.