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We’re Making Up For Shortage Of Resources, Buhari says

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is doing its best to manage the nation’s resources in a prudent manner. He said that the government … Continue reading We’re Making Up For Shortage Of Resources, Buhari says


Muhammadu-Buhari-and-Babatunde-OsotimehinNigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is doing its best to manage the nation’s resources in a prudent manner.

He said that the government was committed to transparency and accountability, which is serving the government in good stead, despite severe shortage of resources.

The President spoke on Thursday at the State House in Abuja while receiving the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin.

“It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria.

“Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45 per barrel. Suddenly, we’re a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage,” the President said.

Saving Lives In Nigeria

Asking UNFPA to bear with Nigeria in whichever area the country could not live up to its responsibilities for now, President Buhari said exploding population and different cultural practices in the country provide fertile ground for research to organizations like UNFPA.

The President thanked the UN agency for its commitment to saving lives in Nigeria, particularly of women and children.

On food security, President Buhari said reports from the northeast of the country were encouraging, as people were returning to their farmlands, with the guarantee of relative security.

A statement by a spokesman for the President, Mr Femi Adesina, said Professor Osotimehin, who was a former Minister of Health in Nigeria, told President Buhari that the UNFPA was determined to promote health care facilities across Nigeria.

He said that reduction of maternal mortality was doable, if the country paid more attention to access to health facilities, and human resources to run them.

He also encouraged Nigeria to commit to providing resources for health care, on a rollover basis, pledging that the UN would work with the country to provide humanitarian assistance not only in the North-East, “but even extended to the Lake Chad basin.”