Stakeholders who converged at the legislative summit on economic recovery and sustainable development organized by the House of Representatives on Monday has underscored the need for deliberate action plan towards tackling corruption and poverty alleviation across the country.
Bode Ayorinde, chairman, House of Representatives’ Tactical Ad-hoc committee on economic recession who conveyed the summit in Abuja, expressed grave concern over Nigeria’s inability to actualize its developmental plan of making Nigeria one of the 20 leading economies in the world by year 2020.
“We are concerned that Nigeria is the 7th most populous country’s in the world, only behind China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan, whereas it is 27th on the ladder of economic strength of nations. Having lost grip with the Vision 20:2020, we are obviously not among the 15 countries in the world known as the trillion dollar economies, reputed to be in control of over 75% of the global wealth,” he said.
According to him, out of the 11 most populous nations in the world, 8 most populous countries namely: China with 1.4 billion population (2nd); India with 1.3 billion population (7th); USA with 324 million population (1st); Indonesia with 206 million population (16th); Brazil with 207 million population (9th); Russia with 142 million population (12th); have achieved their targets of being amongst the 20 strong economies except Nigeria with 185 million population (27th), Pakistan with 193 million population (42nd) and Bangladesh with 162 million population (46th).
In the bid to address the menace, Ayorinde called for synergy among Nigerians in tackling corruption, stressing that “whatever gains recorded through strategic planning and legislative reform would be rubbished by the economic virus called corruption.
“This is why Nigerians must be united to prayerfully support APC government in confronting the hydra-headed monster called corruption in order to save our economy, save our country, save and protect the present and future generations of Nigeria and reposition our country amongst the comity of nations with higher quality of life,” he urged.
On his part, Speaker Yakubu Dogara emphasised the need for collaboration between government, private sector and democratic institutions towards tackling extreme poverty and expanding economic opportunities for Nigerians across board.
Dogara who pledged the House resolve towards providing all needed legislative interventions and measures that will exit Nigeria permanently out of recession, applauded President Muhammadu Buhari over the launch of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (EGRP) targeted at improving agriculture, infrastructure, energy, transportation to serve as the needed foundation for industrialization and productivity.
“For most of our families, the situation has been pathetic. They have endured the economic downturn with grace; suffering quietl y as they deal with recession by trying to dig their way out of a pit defined by unrelenting economic bleakness. The terminal date of a recession is usually no cheering news for families as the traumatic effects of a recession on families lasts far more than the duration of an economic downturn.”
“In the face of this grim reality, no responsible and proactive Parliament, indeed, no Institution of democracy should fold its hands and look the other way as intense poverty and misery hold the knives out for our citizens. Therefore, we have no alternative but to craft a viable legal framework upon which sustainable economic growth and progress can be built. We must reverse the nose-diving trend of the hope and opportunity curve of our dear country to stamp out the slide towards violence which is fast becoming the language of the despondent and hopeless.
“The fight against violence is the fight of the 21st Century. So many nations have lost their civilizations or have become failed states due to violence. Poverty and misery serve as fuel to violence. For citizens of democracy to defeat violence, they must first defeat extreme poverty. Our democracy cannot survive the 21st century, unless we eliminate extreme poverty and violence.
“Therefore, the most important work for democracy now is eliminating extreme poverty and expanding economic opportunities for all. This is a fight Government alone cannot win, in fact no Government has ever won this fight. It is the private sector that always wins the fight. Our citizens and indeed all democratic Institutions must stand up and be counted. For us in the Parliament, today’s event is expected to serve as our modest contribution to this noble fight for democracy and progress.”
In his remarks, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state, expressed optimism that devolution of powers to the state would engender sustainable economic growth across the country.
According to the former speaker of the House, “the truth is that we must find ways to get more money to the tiers of government that are closer to the people so that our economic policies will be more effective.”
He noted that although the nation had technically exited recession, the margin was still fragile hence the government and all stakeholders must work assiduously to ensure that the country does not fall into the unfortunate economic trap again.
“I believe that in order to have sustainable development, the state and federal government must be on the same page. The need for fiscal federalism cannot therefore be over emphasized.
“I therefore, hope this conference will consider how critical devolution of powers is in the context of sustainable growth. We must close the gap between the needs of the states and the policy framework of the federal government.
“Proper devolution will engender better synchronization between the centre and other components of the federation. It is then that the crucial welfare programmes mean to cushion the effect of the recession can have better means of success,” Tambuwal stated.
