Nigeria Suddenly a Poor Country - President Buhari

President Buhari with L-R: Assistant Director General Africa Mr Firmin Edouard Matoko, Permanent Delegation of

Nigeria to UNESCO Mrs Mariam Katagum, Director General UNESCO Mrs Irina Bokova and Minister of Education

Adamu Adamu shortly after receiving the Director General UNESCO Irina Bokova at the Statehouse on 11th August 2016.

 

Speaking on Thursday at the State House, Abuja, while receiving the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and Prof Babatunde Osotimehin, the Under Secretary General of the United Nations, President Muhammadu Buhari, said the sudden drop in the price of crude oil has left Nigeria poor, leaving it to struggle economically and it people suffering.

 

Below is an official statement released by Femi Adesina, the presidential special adviser on media and publicity;

 

WE'RE MAKING UP FOR SEVERE SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES WITH PRUDENCE IN GOVT – PRESIDENT BUHARI

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that commitment to transparency and accountability is serving the government in good stead, despite severe shortage of resources in the country.

 

The President spoke Thursday at State House, Abuja, while receiving the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Prof Babatunde Osotimehin.

 

"It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45 per barrel. Suddenly, we're a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage,” the President said.

 

Asking UNFPA to bear with Nigeria in whichever area the country could not live up to its responsibilities for now, President Buhari said exploding population and different cultural practices in the country provide fertile ground for research to organizations like UNFPA.

 

The President thanked the UN agency for its commitment to saving lives in Nigeria, particularly of women and children.

 

On food security, President Buhari said reports from the North-East of the country were encouraging, as people were returning to their farmlands, with the guarantee of relative security.

 

Prof Osotimehin, a former Minister of Health in Nigeria, said UNFPA was determined to promote health care facilities across the country, noting that reduction of maternal mortality was doable, if the country paid more attention to access to health facilities, and human resources to run them.

 

He also encouraged Nigeria to commit to providing resources for health care, on a rollover basis, pledging that the UN would work with the country to provide humanitarian assistance not only in the North-East, “but even extended to the Lake Chad basin."

 

FEMI ADESINA

Special Adviser to the President 

(Media and Publicity)

August 11, 2016