Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has revealed what the President Muhammadu Buhari government would be doing in the next four years.
Osinbajo, while speaking at the Nigerian Governors Forum’s induction ceremony for the returning governors and governors-elect said President Buhari has made it clear that the government will be focusing its attention on human capital development and physical infrastructure.
Osinbajo said the Government will be working with the States on education, especially that of the girls.
He stated this in a statement made available by Laolu Akande, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity (office of the Vice President).
He added, “It is a great honour to be here at this induction of the freshly elected Governors of States. First, please accept my heartfelt congratulations on your election victories. I reiterate that my congratulations are heartfelt, even to the PDP governors who are present here and all the governors from other parties.
“We elected executive officials belong to an elite club in this nation. Of over 200 million people, the nation elects one President and one Vice President, 36 Governors and 36 deputies, altogether 74 Nigerians, in all 74 men and women out of 200 million people.
“We are so specially privileged and so enormously fortunate that our people choose us among so many other millions to lead them.
“This tremendous privilege which leadership thrusts upon us also comes with grave responsibilities. Those responsibilities are multiplied by the fact that most of our people are extremely poor.
“Large numbers are unable to afford good healthcare and malnutrition remains a major problem. Children in many of our States run the risk of being permanently mentally stunted because they are malnourished. Illiteracy is still significantly high and the number of out of school children is an embarrassment.
“Yet in all these, our population continues to grow at over 3% per annum. We will by current projections, move from 200 million to 400 million people in the next three decades. And then we will become the third most populous nation in the world.
“Most of that population will be young people under the age of 25 looking for jobs. Every one of these people, except a few living in Abuja will live in the States, your States, where you govern. They will seek schools in your States, health services in your States, food in your States and jobs in your States.
“The Federal Government will, as is usual, possibly be blamed for the number of out-of-school children and for not investing enough in healthcare. But you and I know that the primary responsibility for education and healthcare lies with the States.
“The burdens of the citizens of our States, the pains and deprivations of their poverty is what they hope would be alleviated by electing us. No matter how we slice it, we are responsible for the quality of lives and livelihoods of the millions who live within our States and National borders.
“In any event, all of the problems that our people have will be solved by men and women and not spirits. We are those men and women. History and providence have put us in these positions at this time. And we have the mental and physical wherewithal to solve the problems. But we may or may not solve the problem, which is a choice.
“We may revel in the same old excuses, and leave the poverty statistics worse or where we met them. All elected officials in Nigeria since I started following national developments have always complained about inadequate funds. So we will not be saying anything new if and when we raise those same complaints.
“Lagos State, the highest internally generated revenue earner was earning N600million in IGR in the year 2000 when minimum wage was increased from N7500 to N18000, about 140% increase. We are confronted again with the new increase in minimum wage, and the same problems that increase in minimum wage mean, so as scripture says, ‘There is nothing new under the Sun.’
“We must confront the problem, not merely by hoping that the Federal Government can do m
