Senate president, Bukola Saraki has sent a vital message to President Muhammadu Buhari on the presentation of the 2018 appropriation bill.
In the speech delivered on Tuesday, November 7, the Senate president applauded the president for the timely presentation.
He also commended President Buhari for taking the country out of recession but insisted that many Nigerians were still not feeling the positive impact yet.
He said: “As we are all aware, many businesses were adversely affected by the recession; many lost their means of livelihood. As the country emerges from that period of uncertainty, the question on the lips of many Nigerians has been this: How does the recovery translate into tangible economic benefits for me? We must remember that the real gains must be felt on a personal level by the individual, for economic recovery to have meaning. People are seeking to get back to work but cannot find jobs. Entrepreneurs want to restart their businesses but are finding it difficult to access the needed capital. As for our farmers, the last thing they want is for produce to go to waste because people cannot afford to buy. “Looking around today, we see that many of our undergraduates are apprehensive about their graduation day; and our National Youth Corps members are not looking forward to the end of the service year, for fear of being tagged ‘unemployed’. While I commend your current efforts at tackling unemployment – especially among the youth through Federal Youth Programmes such as YouWin, N-Power, and YES-Programme – deliberate steps must be taken to make the 2018 budget a job oriented one.
“In line with that, we must see to the implementation of the Procurement law, with particular relevance to the part that has to do with support for Made-In-Nigeria goods. The implementation of the 2018 budget must anchor on the Made-In-Nigeria project. This should be reflected in government procurements in 2018.” The Senate president also urged the government to focus on the development of the private sector.
He said: “Also, government should continue to create the enabling environment for private sector businesses to thrive through its policies and spending priorities. As we pat ourselves on the back that Nigeria has made a quantum leap, going up 24 places in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking, we cannot rest on our laurels. There is a need to complement reforms in the ease of doing business with targeted spending on those critical infrastructure projects that enhance economic activity and job creation.
In view of this, we must move beyond budgetary provisions without adequate funding available for the execution of projects – and ensure that selection of contractors, as well as the release of funds, are transparent. We must therefore make project completion a top priority, especially those projects that directly impact the lives of our people.