Amosun in Villa, says things are tough

Amidst speculations of ill-health, President Buhari on Monday received in audience the governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun.

Ripples Nigeria had quoted presidency sources earlier on Monday as saying that the President was “a bit under the weather…but may be back on his feet shortly.” The report was the outcome of findings arising from speculations that his absence from the working visit to Lagos was due to ill-health.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, while addressing newsmen after a meeting with President Buhari at the Villa, admitted that things are tough in the country and that all the 36 states are groaning under the current economic downturn in the country.

Amosun said the current situation calls for everybody to start thinking outside the box, adding that it was the same reason his state was making steady progress in the area of increasing its revenue.

He said: “Yes, I know things are tough and I am saying this with all sense of responsibility.

Read also: Real reason Buhari aborted Lagos trip

“All the states in Nigeria are affected. We are part of the larger context called Nigeria and because of that challenge, people must think out of the box.

“I am happy to report that in Nigeria today, maybe not in the quantum of what we generate but we (Ogun State) are number one.

“If you check the indices that have been released, we doubled our revenue with about 97.8%. The next state to us I think was 41%. We are working hard and we are doing well but there are still lots more to be done.”

According to Amosun, one of the ways the state government was planning to move the state forward was the recent
investors’ forum which focused on agriculture, environment and transportation. He added that his administration decided to focus on the three areas because of the belief that there is no alternative except for diversification.

He added: “Those nations that have got it right, if you see them, you will discover that they have their cottage industries, they are the enablers. That is why we believe that if we zero in on these three grey areas, of course, we will get it right”.

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