By Adetutu Folasade-Koyi
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reiterated, yesterday, that the Federal Government has come up with a comprehensive strategy to tackle violent extremism across the country.
Speaking during a visit to the offices of Leadership Newspaper in Abuja, yesterday, the minister said the strategy is contained in a document entitled Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, which was launched by
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday.
The document was developed after consultations with the agencies of government, civil society organisations, media, academia and the international community, he disclosed.
Alhaji Mohammed said the administration is steadily restoring peace and security to the North-east, which was in the grip of the terrorists when the Buhari administration assumed office on May 29, 2015.
“We have put Boko Haram on the run. Occasionally, they attack soft targets, but, even that is being tackled with intelligence-driven measures,” he said.
The minister also said the administration is revamping the economy and that the naira is now stable, “foreign reserves have risen from $23 billion to $35 billion dollars within a year.” He said Nigeria has been named among the top 10 reforming economies in the world and the country has leapfrogged 24 places in the ease of doing business rankings.
”We are taming inflation, which has fallen for eight consecutive months. We are building infrastructure and we are creating jobs. Also, I am glad to inform you that capital importation into Nigeria in Q3 2017 recorded a substantial increase, compared to the past few quarters, as the economy continued to recover from recession. The total capital imported in Q3 was recorded at $4,145.1 million, more than double the inflow in the second quarter of this year, representing an increased value of 147.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis,” said Mohammed.