Buhari saved Nigeria from becoming another Venezuela – Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Wednesday, praised President Muhammadu Buhari for leading the country through the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.

In a statement issued by Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Charles Akpan, the minister attributed the challenges faced by the country to a lack of planning by previous administrations.

The statement read: “I know that our country is passing through a very rough time now because we have not planned well. It is not this administration. We know we were all dependent on oil. So, when oil prices came crashing and when security issues arose, disrupting production, we were caught napping. Because of that, we went into recession. Later on, COVID-19 forced us to go into a second recession. We are not yet out of the woods.

READ ALSO: No past president can tolerate what Nigerians throw at Buhari —Ngige

“We thank God. I am part of this government. I know that if we don’t have the kind of leader that we have who is strong like President Muhammadu Buhari, the experience of Nigeria would have been like that of Venezuela.

“The citizens of Nigeria would have spilled into Cameroon, Niger, and other places as refugees. We were looking forward to it. But he forced us all to go into agriculture. We made agriculture the first signature programme of the administration and provided food security so that we can eat whatever we grow here.

“So, we have to be grateful to the government and our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, for standing firm that we will not import food anymore here. Even if he didn’t stand firm, we didn’t have the money anymore to start importing potatoes, tooth pick, chocolate and others.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now