*Minister says nation going through sustain rebuilding process
*Declares Jonathan’s YouWIN now YouWIN!Connect under Buhari govt
*’10 years without productive economy caused recession’
By Florence Israel, Abuja
“The good news is that we are working through the issues, one by one, and trying to ensure that as we rebuild the economy, we get away from the boom and bust cycle of the past – we want to build an economy where, whether oil price is high or low, there’s sustainable growth for Nigeria and for Nigerians.”
The first edition of Facebook live session by Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Honourable Minister of Finance shot on Tuesday, April 4 at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, is said to have reached an audience of over 130,000 people within the first one hour.
In a statement from the Ministry of Finance, the live session started with an overview of the Nigerian economy during the past few months explaining how the ministry had given support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), job creation, reducing cost of governance, improving transparency and also boosting government revenues.
Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who did not fail to acknowledge the recent challenges that bedeviled the Nigerian economy, noted that the country was going through a sustainable rebuilding process.
“The good news is that we are working through the issues, one by one, and trying to ensure that as we rebuild the economy, we get away from the boom and bust cycle of the past – we want to build an economy where, whether oil price is high or low, there’s sustainable growth for Nigeria and for Nigerians.”
The Finance Minister further noted this as one of the reasons the Federal Government was investing heavily in infrastructure in order to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
While responding to a Facebook question on the YouWIN program, Mrs Adeosun explained that the scheme had been reviewed and repositioned as YouWIN!Connect by the Federal Government with a focus on continuous enterprise education and skills building.
Fielding questions on the whistle blowing policy, the Minister said it was not only about recovering stolen funds but to also serve as a deterrent to corrupt practices generally.
On the take-off of the newly licenced DBN, Mrs. Adeosun reaffirmed that it was established in order to provide easy access to funding SMEs.
Speaking on the economic recession, the Finance Minister said, “We got into recession because, for the last 10 years, even when the oil price was extremely high, and we were borrowing, our reserves were decreasing. We didn’t have enough of a productive economy. The only real thing that was happening and creating growth was the oil price, and as soon as the oil price went down, growth disappeared. What we are trying to do now is to reset the economy, so that we are not so dependent on oil.”
Adeosun reassured the participants and viewers that she would continue to actively engage the social media for further interactions.
