Experts in the economy and leadership sectors have lauded the Federal Government for its efforts and strategies that led to the exit of the country from recession.
They gave the commendation at the National Policy and Development Summit (N-POD) in Abuja on Friday.
The conference was organised by Mr Ibrahim Hassan, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy, Development and Analysis, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
In his address of welcome, Hassan said: “the main focus of the summit was on how to consolidate on the gains that led us out of recession and how to avoid pitfalls that could take us back to recession.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world, there were lockdowns, travel restrictions and a huge drop in the global prices of oil.
“This affected Nigeria adversely because of our dependence on oil revenues for sustenance.
“Happily, Nigeria exited the recession when the Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.11per cent. The IMF and Bloomberg predicted a decline, but the economy witnessed a rise.
“Also, the non-oil sectors contributed to ensure that Nigeria exited from the recession with agriculture and telecommunications as the lead. This provides hope for consolidation and economic growth,” Hassan said.
An Economy Expert, Dr Paul Alaje, said that the Federal Government had done well to get the country out of recession.
“To consolidate on the country’s exit from recession, there is need to find out where we were, where we are, and where we want to be.
“We need to sustain growth and development by folding our sleeves and getting to work through innovation, revenue, infrastructure, manufacture, open market competitiveness, social justice, education and economic zones.
“The government can focus on telecommunications and other aspects where revenue is generated more to consolidate.
“If the economy is more open and more competitive, we would have more industries producing sugar, cements and other products.
“This can benefit our large population that will in turn generate more revenue to the country,” Alaje said.
Similarly, a leadership expert, Mr Linus Okorie said that the Federal Government could do better to sustain the out of recession position.
According to him, Nigeria needs to take young people very seriously, get to know what they are good at and give them an ‘eight star’ training in technical institutions either in tiling or painting.
“Agriculture is another sector to get us out of recession. Invest in different states on what they produce more and give them machines that would processes the products into different commodities.
“And in less than a year, people will make jobs, have jobs, earn a living and revenue will be greatly generated,” he said.
Other online participants appreciated the Federal Government and urged it to consolidate on the efforts that led the country out of recession.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports the event attracted officials of the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigerians Governor’s Forum and many others. .(NAN)
