BREAKING NEWS, Power
–
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has promised that the government would generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity in three years. Buhari gave the promise at the opening ceremony of a two-day National Economic Council, NEC, retreat in Abuja on Monday, March 21.
In his key note address, the president took participants through random policy projections in four selected sectors; agriculture, power, manufacturing and housing. He then told his audience, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors, ministers and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, officials that decisions reached at the retreat would not be final but only contributions for economic development and subject to review as they progress.
He highlighted the need for Nigeria’s agricultural sector to be able to ensure local food production for food sufficiency, as more funding and appropriate resources must be provided to achieve this. Mechanised farming must also be promoted in Nigeria with the provision of feeder roads to transport crops to production plants and mills, while states would increase support to community farmers and operators.
In the power sector, Buhari said that 10,000 megawatts of electricity must be provided in the next three years remaining for his administration, of which 3000 megawatts must be achieved by the end of 2016. In order to meet the set targets and put a stop to power outage, he said that the process of privatisation must be concluded in order for Nigerians to reap its benefits.
He emphasised the need to provide more security for pipelines, encouragement and incentives for power companies to operate.
The NEC retreat provides a forum for in-depth discussions by members of the policy actions that the states and the federal government could consider so as to stimulate the economy. The forum provides to look into available areas to cut costs and enhance public revenues among other measures.
— Mar 21, 2016 @ 13:50 GMT
|
Tags:
