The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has provided a detailed 102-page documented response to the
50 questions posed by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance.
The document provides, in extensive detail,
including tables and graphs, answers to the committee’s well publicized
questions.
In her response, the Minister stressed that,
in spite of many challenges which government has acknowledged, the Nigerian
economy is showing real and measurable progress in many areas. This can be seen
in the fact that more jobs are being created; roads, rail and other
infrastructure are being improved; the country is saving for the future and
planning better for the present. The Jonathan administration, contrary to the
impression given by some critics, is making impact in the areas that, according
to credible opinion polls, Nigerians are most passionate about.
For instance, on job creation which is a
central focus of the administration, a total of 1.6 million jobs were created
last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of which
250,000 were seasonal jobs created in dry season farming in 10 northern states.
In manufacturing, the Onne Oil and Gas Free zone created an estimated 30,000
direct and indirect jobs. The government special intervention programme YouWin
supported young entrepreneurs, creating over 18,000 jobs. The SURE-P Community
Services prgramme has also created 120,000 job opportunities.
The improvement in federal highways has been
confirmed by many Nigerians who travelled over the Christmas and New Year
holidays. Key highways which have witnessed significant progress include Kano-Maiduguri road, the Abuja-Lokoja road, the Apapa-Oshodi road, the
Onitsha-Enugu-Port-Harcourt road and the Benin-Ore-Shagamu road. Preliminary
work has commenced on Lagos-Ibadan road and the Second Niger Bridge.
The Railway
Modernization Programme involving the construction of standard gauge lines is
underway. The 1,124 km Western line linking Lagos and Kano is now functional
while work on the Eastern line linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is about 36%
complete. The Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge line has attained 68% completion, and
the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Line which is presently 77% completed, will be
completed next year. The annual passenger traffic on our railways has increased
steadily: rising from 1 million in 2011 to 5 million in 2013.
One of the issues the Coordinating Minister
dealt with is the charge, made by the Chair of the Committee in the media that
the country is racking up debts under Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s watch as Finance
Minister. As shown in her response, there is no substance to the charge. In
fact, the opposite is true. Right from her Senate confirmation hearing in 2011,
the Minister had identified rising debt as a major challenge which the country
needs to confront. Under the leadership of President Jonathan and working with
the Debt Management Office and the Budget Office of the Fedration, the Minister
followed through with a robust approach which includes progressive reduction of
borrowing, quick settlement of due debts and the retirement of N75 billion of
maturing bonds via a Sinking Fund dedicated to paying off substantial bonds.
These measures have produced clear results as shown in the reduction of
borrowing from N852 billion in 2011 to N571.9 billion this year.
It is important to note that many of the 50
Questions had been adequately answered at various fora, including meetings and
open hearings organized by the House Committee.
The Minister’s detailed response in spite of this, is a reflection of
her well known high regard for the National Assembly as an institution.
Please see below some highlights of the
Coordinating Minister’s answers to the 50 questions.
Paul C Nwabuikwu
Special
Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance
HIGHLIGHTS OF SOME
ANSWERS TO THE
50 QUESTIONS
JOB CREATION
A total of 1.6 million jobs were created last
year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In agriculture for
instance, the provision of inputs in 10 Northern states enabled dry season
farming and created over 250,000 seasonal jobs. season. In manufacturing, the
Onne Oil and Gas Free zone created an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect
jobs. The government special intervention programme YouWin supported young
entrepreneurs, creating over 18,000 jobs. The Sure-community Services has also
created 120,000 job opportunities.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Progress has been made on construction of the
Kano-Maiduguri road, the Abuja-Lokoja road, the Apapa-Oshodi
road, the Onitsha-Enugu-Port-Harcourt road and the Benin-Ore-Shagamu road,
among others. Preliminary work has also commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan road, as
well as on the Second Niger Bridge. The Railway Modernization Programme
involving the construction of standard gauge lines is underway. The 1,124 km
Western line linking Lagos and Kano is now functional while work on the Eastern
line linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is about 36% complete. The Abuja-Kaduna
Standard Gauge line has attained 68% completion, and the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri
Line which is presently 77% completed, will be completed next year. The annual
passenger traffic on our railways has increased steadily: rising from 1 million
in 2011 to 5 million in 2013.
INLAND WATERWAYS
We have dredged about 72 km of the lower
River Niger from Baro in Niger State to Warri in Delta State; and completed the
construction of the Onitsha inland port; while the Baro port is nearing
completion. The result of all these is that we now have year round navigation
around the lower Niger; and we are already witnessing an increase in cargo
volume from below 2.9 million metric tons in 2011 to over 5 million metric tons
on the inland waterways. As in the case of the rail transport, the number of
passengers travelling via our inland waterways has increased fourfold from
250,000 in 2011 to over 1.3 million.
WATER RESOURCES
Key milestones recorded in 2013 include the
construction of 9 dams,
which resulted in an increase in the
volume of the nation’s water reservoir by 422MCM. Progress
was made on major projects such as the South Chad Irrigation Project, the
Bakolori Irrigation Project, and the Galma Dam. Implementation of irrigation
and drainage programme resulted in increase of the total irrigable
area by over 31,000Ha, job creation for about 75,000 farming families and
increased production of over 400,000Mt of assorted irrigated food products.
AVIATION:
The 22 airports across Nigeria are being
remodeled and upgraded: in 2013, we completed the upgrade of 11 airport
terminals and work on the remaining 11 terminals is in progress. The Enugu
Airport is now operational as an international airport with a new terminal
under construction. We have also commenced work on the construction of three
new international airport terminals: in Lagos, in Kano, and in Abuja. Modern
navigational and meteorological systems were installed at our airports to
improve air safety. In addition, 6 airports namely: Jos, Markurdi, Yola,
Jalingo, Lagos and Ilorin which are strategically located in proximity to food
baskets have been designated as perishable cargo airports and international
standards perishable cargo facilities are being developed at these airports. A
new Cargo Development Division has been established in FAAN to give focus to
this effort.
POWER
We
have completed one of the most comprehensive and ambitious power sector
privatization and liberation programmes globally. We have privatized 4 power
generation companies and 10 power distribution companies, and have virtually settled
all claims and entitlements of PHCN workers. Some major cities get an average
of 16-18 hours of electricity per day in 2013. This however dropped in November
and December during the transition we expect some teething problems and then
power supply should pick up. In 2013, we also
mobilized $1.5 billion in financing from multilateral sources for investment
and upgrade of the transmission network in 2014 and beyond. To promote clean
energy, we also commenced construction of the 700MW Zungeru Hydro-Power project
in 2013. We have strengthened relevant power market intermediaries such as the
Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), and backed them with financing to
stimulate greater private investments in the sector.
MANUFACTURING:
We launched the National Industrial
Revolution Plan (NIRP), which focuses on industrializing Nigeria and
diversifying our economy into sectors such as agro-processing, light
manufacturing, and petrochemicals. In the 2013 fiscal year, Nigeria was named
the #1 destination for investments in Africa by UNCTAD (the UN Conference on
Trade and Development), attracting over $7 billion in FDI. There were a large number of both foreign and
domestic investments in the economy, such as by: $250m investments by Procter
and Gamble in Ogun State; $40 million in agricultural projects by Dominion
Farms. To further support the manufacturing sector, the Government successfully
negotiated a strong Common External Tariff (CET) agreement with our ECOWAS
partners, which would enable us to protect our strategic industries where
necessary. The Nigerian Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) was initiated
in 2013 to address the needs of small businesses. Some key interventions by
NEDEP include supporting small companies with access to affordable finance,
access to markets, capacity support, business development services, youth
training, and support in formalizing their operations. In addition, in 2013, we
reduced business registration costs for small businesses by 50%, to help them
conserve capital. Finally, as a result of our backward integration policies,
Nigeria is now a net exporter of cement and expanded cement output capacity
from 2 million metric tonnes in 2002 to 28.5 million metric tonnes in 2013.
AGRICULTURE:
There have been many achievements in the
agricultural sector following the launch of the Government’s comprehensive
Agricultural Transformation Agenda program. In October 2013, inflation fell to
7.8%, its lowest since 2008, partly due to higher domestic food production. The
Government’s Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) is providing subsidizing inputs to
farmers via an e-Wallet program. In fiscal year 2013, an estimated 4.2 million
farmers received subsidized inputs via the Government’s Growth Enhancement
Scheme. As a result, in 2013, we produced 1.1 million metric tonnes of dry
season rice across 10 Northern states; and over 250,000 farmers and youths in
these States are now profitably engaged in farming even during the dry season.
The Federal Government launched Staple Crop Processing Zones to support
investments in the entire agricultural value chain. At present, there are over
$8 billion of private investment commitments from agribusiness ventures such
as: Flour Mills of Nigeria, the Dangote Group, Syngenta, Indorama, AGCO, and
Belstar Capital. In 2012, 2.2 million metric tonnes of cassava chips were
exported, exceeding the ATA’s target by over 100% while the 40 percent
substitution of cassava for wheat has been achieved through research and
collaboration with the IITA and Federal Institute for Industrial Research.
Similarly, there has been a decline in wheat imports to Nigeria from an
all-time high of 4,051,000 MT in 2010 to 3,700,000 MT in 2012.
HEALTH
To further invest in the human capital of our
population, we are building strong safety nets and improving access to primary
health care using the Saving One Million
Lives programme. In the 2013 fiscal year, we recruited 11,300
frontline
health workers who were deployed to under-served communities across the
country. We have reached over 10,000 women and children with conditional
cash
transfer programmes across 8 States (Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ebonyi,
Kaduna,
Niger, Ogun, Zamfara) and the FCT and we intend to scale up this
successful
initiative. As a result, over 400,000 lives have been saved through our
various
interventions. Nigeria’s national immunization coverage has
now exceeded 80% and is yielding demonstrable results. The Type-3 Wild
Polio
virus has been contained in 2013, with no recorded transmissions for
more than
one year; while Guinea
worm that previously affected the lives of over 800,000 Nigerians yearly
has
been largely eradicated. Facilities at various medical centers across
the
country – such as the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu,
and the
University College Hospital in Ibadan – have also been upgraded.
Finally, Nigeria has also been honoured as Co-Chair of the fourth
replenishment of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and I
shall be
co-chairing this initiative with other selected world leaders.
EDUCATION
To improve access to education at all levels,
a number of priority investments were made in 2013. These include the construction of 125
Almajiri schools and establishment of 3 additional Federal Universities, to bring
the total number of new Federal Universities to 12. Additionally, special girls’ schools were
constructed in 13 States of the Federation. In fiscal year 2013, we
rehabilitated 352 science and technical laboratories while 72 new libraries
have been constructed in the Federal Unity Schools. Furthermore, the laboratories of all 51
Federal and State Polytechnics have been rehabilitated and micro-teaching
laboratories are being constructed in 58 Federal and State Colleges of Education. The Presidential Special Scholarship
programme for first class graduates has commenced with an initial set of 101
beneficiaries. Over 7,000 lecturers from Universities, Polytechnics and
Colleges of Education are benefitting from scholarships to support their
doctoral training in Nigerian and overseas institutions.
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY:
We continued our strategic focus on investing
in modern ICT technologies. We constructed 500km of fibre-optic cable to rural
areas; 3,000km targeted for deployment in 2013/2014. A total of 266 Public
Access Venues were established in 2013 – 156 Rural IT Centres, 110 Community
Communication Centres. We facilitated the deployment of mobile communications
base stations in rural areas of Nigeria. A total of 59 Base Stations have been
installed thus far, with an additional 1,000 planned for 2014. In addition, we also provided wholesale
internet bandwidth to Internet Service Providers, Cyber cafes, and ICT centres
like Community Communication Centres (CCC) in rural communities – connectivity
to 12 out of 18 pilot sites completed. In 2013, we deployed a fibre-optic
high-speed internet network to connect 27 Federal universities, and provided
computing facilities to 74 tertiary institutions and 218 public schools across
the country. Finally, we established innovation centers to support
entrepreneurs in the ICT sector, and also launched a Venture Capital fund of
$15 million for ICT businesses.
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You people created suffer suffer jobs for the masses, using the SURE-P money to buy Vehicles and Buses that you give to your Cronnies and loyalists to poor masses at an exhurbrant rates of hire-purchase abi Okonjo? what about the YOUWIN Programme you mentioned, i personally helped most of the women in my area and men too with a Roburst Proposal and to our greatest surprise no single person made it, the slots were sold and bought by highest bidders with connections, what about the federal Jobs, slots are shared among you people there in Abuja from the President to his Wife to their Elders in Bayelsa and the Cronnies in the North and south west to the East, you place adverts for formality sake, are these the kinds of jobs you are talking about? what about the short service commission for the Military? this is my fourth attempts since graduation in 2005, of course this is a no go area except you have a god father whose name can open at least windows in a abuja if not doors........don't worry Madam Economy cordinator posterity will come after you people.......Nothing is gotten by merits again in this country, before now even before you come out of the university job is waiting for you, you are in the school you have Vacation jobs everywhere where are these cultures, you sit up there deceiving people with your Akanra materials everytime, abi na the NNPC Recruitment i go talk about? REVOLUTION will catch up with you ple very soon, so don't say you created jobs , saay instead that you gave out jobs to your cronies okay because the REAL people never gets the JOBS.....God bless NIGERIA
ReplyDelete1.6 million jobs for over 100 million unemployed youths!
ReplyDeleteMany of the quoted projects were done half way before GEJ took over.
Movement without Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmmmmm.....job kee! When a good number of youths ready to work is wasting moreover jobs now is been contracted out to the people on top.
ReplyDeleteFC Online: God bless you for that heart based response!
ReplyDelete