Official says Nigeria’s economic growth will triple by 2020


Nigeria’s economy will move from its present $300 billion yearly growth to $900 billion before 2020, if all economic indices are strictly adhered to, the National Coordinator of Vision 20:2020, Akin Arikawe said at the weekend in Akure.

The economist, who delivered a lecture at the first Sunshine Standard Newspaper award and dinner night, held in Akure on Saturday, said the nation’s per capita income is expected not to be lower than $4,000 by 2020.

This, according to him, will make Nigeria a middle income country rather than a poor nation.

Mr. Arikawe, who was the Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference set up by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, however, expressed reservation at the attitude of some Nigerians towards the success of the vision 2020 project.

He said the programme would only achieve its objectives if corruption associated with the electoral system and stealing from public accounts are reduced to the barest minimum “To make vision 2020 project successful, it means we have to transform our health system, education system, infrastructure, power, roads, water and everything that will make life meaningful for the people,” he said.

“Our habit on issues like the way we perceive wealth, corruption, electoral malpractices, 419 and cultism should be changed. Vision 2020 is a socio-economic transformation blueprint to launch Nigeria from where we are today to where our potential ought to put us.” The government official said all the 36 states, including Abuja, have been constituted into stakeholder development committees to make sure that they evolve their own vision 2020 programmes.

“They are expected to give comprehensive blue print of where they will like to be in 2020 in the areas of health, education, power generation, election, road network and many others,” he said. “Each state will make its contribution and will make sure that each state governor endorsed his state contribution to the vision 2020 programme.” The politicised media The publisher of Sunshine Standard Magazine, Daisi Adetarami, bemoaned the way politicians have hijacked the newspaper industry to pursue their inordinate ambitions.

Mr. Adetarami said the situation is currently hampering free flow of information, as publishers now used their newspapers to attack their enemies on the pages of newspapers.

“I am not happy about the future of Nigeria’s newspaper industry because of the way some politicians have hijacked the newspaper industry to fight their perceived enemies,” he said.
Source: 234next.com
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