Nigeria requires the collaborative efforts of stakeholders to overcome its current economic crisis, according to Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
“These choices we need to make to revive the economy are not the preserve of the government or anybody but the collective,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of ActionAid Nigeria’s Country Strategy Paper in Abuja on Wednesday, Bagudu highlighted that President Bola Tinubu’s administration focuses on uniting Nigerians to address economic challenges rather than engaging in a blame game.
“By doing so, we can transform our ways; we can localize the challenge; we can find that rather than being presumptuous and judgmental, we can collaborate and understand, localize the challenge, and everyone can contribute to making it better, instilling a sense of hope and optimism,” he said.
The minister emphasized that instead of assigning blame, it is crucial to recognize that the current economic crisis stems from years of underinvestment in critical sectors. He suggested that Nigeria could benefit from sharing experiences with countries that have faced similar challenges and successfully recovered.
Bagudu pointed to Indonesia and Brazil, which have populations comparable to Nigeria’s, as examples of nations that offer valuable lessons for achieving the desired economic growth and development.
He said, “Brazil’s federal budget is about $700 billion, and it has been like that for upwards of a decade. Nigeria’s federal budget now is about $20 billion, and maybe the highest it has been has been about $35 billion.
“Do we want to be like Brazil, or do we want to be like Indonesia? Can we hope to achieve what they have achieved with that level of federal spending, or do we confront this reality?
“When you confront your reality, like gathering the family around and reminding everyone that we are not as rich as we think we are, maybe new energy will come into the family, and the sense of entitlement will give way to What I can do.”
Amidst the recent cost-of-living protests, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Bagudu emphasized that Nigerians need to understand that economic reform policies require repositioning the economy to attract both domestic and foreign investment.
While acknowledging the widespread poverty, Bagudu stressed that it can only be addressed through the combined efforts of all levels of government and by engaging every segment of society.
He said, “The ultimate end of social action is to include all, and local economies can be made to include all. This can only happen when we embrace cooperation, when we become less judgmental when we interrogate and challenge public officials to give more effort and guidance, and when we appreciate that we are not alone. Some of the challenges we are facing are global.
“But yet we can’t take luxury or comfort in that. We have to move quickly. So, we are humbled to come and interact so that we can all mobilise together to do better.”
