WorldStage– The Federal Government has acknowledged the hardship facing many Nigerians through its economic reforms but described it as a passing phase.
Admitting the hardship, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, insisted that government policies were deliberately designed to confront the country’s challenges through investments in rail transport, the Sokoto-Badagry and Lagos-Calabar superhighways, road construction and rehabilitation nationwide, and the transformation of Abuja’s road network.
He said food security initiatives involving improved agricultural inputs, tractors and institutional support through the National Agricultural Land Development Agency (NALDA) were also being implemented to boost agricultural productivity.
Akume further stated that the administration had pursued improvements in electricity generation and distribution through CNG power stations and constitutional reforms allowing sub-national governments greater participation in the energy sector.
He added that health facilities at both primary and tertiary levels were being upgraded, while development commissions established across the country’s regions were creating jobs and addressing peculiar developmental needs. He also disclosed that ministries, departments and agencies were recruiting Nigerians.
The SGF defended the administration’s economic reforms, describing them as difficult but necessary measures aimed at correcting long-standing structural weaknesses, restoring macroeconomic stability, rebuilding investor confidence and placing the economy on a sustainable path.
He said there was now growing evidence that the reforms were yielding results, with the foreign exchange market becoming more stable, inflationary pressures moderating, macroeconomic fundamentals strengthening and investor confidence returning.
Akume maintained that official data showed continued real economic growth, moderation in headline inflation and declining food-price pressures, arguing that these developments underscored the need to sustain reforms while intensifying targeted interventions to reduce living costs and expand economic opportunities.
He listed the Social Investment Programmes, Credit Corps, NELFUND, support for business start-ups and Conditional Cash Transfers as evidence of government efforts to ensure that the benefits of reforms reached households through improved welfare, employment, education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic opportunities.
The SGF also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for discharging its statutory responsibility for monetary and price stability with professionalism and institutional independence, assuring that monetary credibility, financial-system stability and public confidence would remain above partisan politics.
According to him, the next phase of the administration’s reforms would focus on ensuring that economic stability translated into lower inflation, more affordable food, quality jobs, stronger public services, improved infrastructure and expanded opportunities for Nigerians
