President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday inaugurated his economic team and admonished its members to pay attention to the nation’s growth.
The team, according to him, must work with vice president Namadi Sambo and himself “to bring about such economic transformation that can clearly translate into better opportunities for our people”.
He said he was pleased to inaugurate the Economic Management Team (EMT) after the swearing-in of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance.
“I had restated our intention to place a proper accent on the economy as the engine of national growth as well as the need to institute a multi-sectoral approach to the management of the economy,” he said.
The president who noted that he had since announced the composition of the team said that while he was pleased to inaugurate the team, government had made substantial gains in its objective of accelerating the pace of economic development in the country over a short period of time.
“I believe that with the team in place, and with the commitment of its members, we will be in a vantage position to achieve a lot more,” the president stated.
While noting that he had severally challenged members of the Executive Council on the need for hard work, commitment and greater efficiency in service delivery,
Jonathan maintained that the country’s goals and aspirations to make Nigeria a better country “can only be achieved if we all work together as a team.”
This, he said, was important and added that “in the meantime, I am quite pleased with the level of enthusiasm and comradeship that I observe among Ministers and Ministers of State.
However, he said that, “the value of all that can only be measured in terms of the quality of our outputs and how well we are able to meet the people’s expectations.”
He said that he expected members of the team to combine their individual strengths, to generate ideas and initiatives in line with their goal of transforming every sector of Nigerian life and society, particularly the economy.
Jonathan said, “the economy, is of course, at the heart of this administration’s transformational agenda. We are looking forward to greater fiscal discipline, a continuously improving framework to support local and international investors, and effective macro-economic and monetary policies. Our emphasis should be one of inclusive growth and employment generation.
“Economic growth should necessarily translate into measurable benefits for our people.”
He urged the economic team to fast-track the implementation of the medium term plan in line with government’s commitment to the realisation of the Vision 2020 aspirations.
Jonathan also said that, “our people want to see improvements not only in terms of reduced inflation, higher economic growth and economic diversification but also in job creation, better school enrolment, improved access to health care and a more sustainable environment.
“They want regular and sustainable electricity supply, higher purchasing power, social infrastructure, and in every sense, this is all about the economy. Today marks the beginning of an exciting collective journey in our attempt to strengthen the Nigerian economy.
“Let me use this opportunity to reiterate that the team is set up to co-ordinate the rapid growth of our Economy and not to take over the responsibility of managing the various ministries under the leadership of the individual Ministers. The success or failure of any ministry in attaining the goals we have set is therefore dependent on the leadership of the ministry headed by the minister and supported by the Permanent Secretaries.
“I want to be able to assure Nigerians at every turn, that in the next four years we will make this country proud. Our task is to ensure that the country records unprecedented economic progress and our citizens see clear improvements in the quality of their lives. This is our commitment.”
The president added, “We must ensure better linkages between fiscal and monetary policies, provide a more enabling environment for private sector investment and continue to encourage the culture of entrepreneurship to thrive.
“What is required is a rededication of efforts and a sense of creative innovation. You have a very important assignment indeed. We will work to create the jobs that everyone needs to participate in the emerging Nigerian economy and to be assured of a better life. This should be the focus of the economic team.”
Jonathan urged all Nigerians to be more productive and said, “it is only by producing more goods and services that we can achieve our economic targets. This assignment is for all and I am confident that we can translate our dreams into reality.”
?