President Goodluck Jonathan says the drop in the price of crude oil, Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner, will affect Nigeria.
It will “affect us in one way or the other,” the president admitted, while speaking on Sunday at the Christ Apostolic Church, Area1, Abuja. He however promised that “the economic team is working very hard to stabilise it and we believe that although there may be temporary inconveniences, it will definitely not bring the economy down.”
Jonathan further acknowledged that the country is going through myriad of challenges and expressed hope that Nigeria would overcome.
“We are facing a lot of challenges now as a nation. The challenges did not start today but somehow, instead of abating, the problems started increasing for one reason or the other. But I am convinced that it would have been worse than this but for your prayers. With the prayers you continue to offer to God, God will see us through,” he said.
The president also admitted Nigeria is not where it is supposed to be, but said that his government has put policies in place to ensure things change for the better.
“Those who are taking pains to look at what we are doing will agree with us that if we progress as a nation steadily in this manner, in the next four or five years, this country will be a better place,” Jonathan said.
“Only a few days back, the Vice President was in Port Harcourt to flag off the Eastern railway. The Western one moving from Lagos to Kano has been running. We will start using the modern one from Kaduna to Abuja by the first quarter of next year and the one from Port Harcourt.
“We relied on agriculture before the oil boom or doom and all that died. We are reviving it and the whole world has appreciated that we are moving forward in agriculture. When they start something, people do not see the benefits immediately. We know that as a nation, we have a lot of challenges in terms of getting jobs for our young graduates and we have set up a lot of programmes that can create job opportunities for our young men. The result may not be obvious immediately but God willing, job opportunities will continue to increase and many more young people will be engaged,” the president said.
