The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that for the first time under our amended law, 200 million Nigerians will start to receive a fair return on the surfeit of resources of the nation’s lands.
While addressing a news conference on Monday in Lagos where he highlighted the government’s achievement in 2019, Mr. Mohammed said increased income will allow for new hospitals, schools, infrastructure, and jobs.
The minister said over the years Nigeria has failed to secure its equitable share of the proceeds of oil production because all attempts to amend the law on the distribution of income have failed, adding that the present administration has broken the jinx.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, in a landmark move, signed into law the amended Deep Offshore Bill. This Act means that Nigeria will now receive its fair, rightful and equitable share of income from our own natural resources for the first time since 2003,” Lai Mohammed stated.
He also noted that 2019 has been a momentous year, adding the Buhari-led administration has taken Nigeria closer to its Next Level target.
According to him, the economy has continued to witness a strong performance, building on the steady recovery since the last recession.
“Nigeria has not reached its debt ceiling of 25% in total public debt stock to GDP (Debt/GDP), as it is currently on 18.99%, but its debt service to revenue ratio has been higher than desirable, which explains why the government is moving ahead with its economic diversification efforts, in addition to increasing oil and non-oil revenues and widening the tax base,” he stressed.
The Minister told newsmen that the security of lives and property has remained a priority of the present administration, adding that this has led to a tremendous improvement that has been witnessed in fighting terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other acts of criminality.
While agreeing that the year was indeed a challenging one in terms of insecurity, Mr. Mohammed however, argued that the Federal Government faced the challenge squarely to cancel doomsday predictions from the political opposition and their allies.
He concluded that the fight against insecurity was boosted by the border drill, which curtailed access to weapons by terrorists and other criminals.
Channelstv.com
