Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the problem with Nigeria is not about resources or planning, but poor management of resources in the past.
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This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, in Abuja, yesterday.
Fielding questions from a cross section of Nigerians in Germany, on Sunday night, Osinbajo said “those who made away with the nation’s resources should be made to account for it.”
He said to move forward, such massive corruption should not be allowed again.
“The greatest problem Nigeria has is one of grand corruption; that is the biggest problem we have; not the problem of planning or plans. Grand corruption is the reason why we are not moving as fast as we should in our country.
“There is no country in the world that can survive if its resources are stolen the way Nigeria’s resources are stolen.”
Osinbajo also said most of the issues raised by Nigerians in Diaspora, at the meeting over lack of energy, infrastructure, quality and extensive health care services, education and security were traceable to mismanagement of national resources.
He called on Nigerians to hold leaders accountable for the nation’s wealth.
“At the town hall meeting in Berlin, the vice president stated that one of the key issues the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is dealing with, in partnership with European leaders, is the repatriation of the country’s stolen assets stashed abroad,” Akande said.
He added that the Federal Government is also having conversations with European countries on the subject of migration of Nigerians to Europe.
The vice president told the gathering that the ruling government is concerned about the migration issue and had started negotiating with European countries.
Osinbajo expressed optimism that the challenge could be effectively addressed through Nigeria’s collaboration with its European partners.
Explaining the federal government’s efforts at addressing unemployment challenges, the vice president observed that a young population of about 60 per cent created a yearly addition of about 1.4 million graduates to the unemployment market.
He, however, disclosed that the Buhari-led administration is addressing the matter as the Federal Government had employed 500,000 graduates under the N-Power scheme, as well as through other social investment programmes like MarketMoni and TraderMoni.
On health care delivery services to majority of Nigerians, Osinbajo agreed on the need to extend good health care to all Nigerians, but pointed out that it could only be achieved through compulsory health insurance policy.
Underscoring the urgent need to develop a functional educational system, the vice president announced that the Buhari-led administration was developing a robust education policy, saying “education is the basis of all we’re doing.”
On the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the vice President said negotiation between the Federal Government and ASUU was continuing and expressed hope that an agreement could be reached soon.