Nigeria’s recession will soon be over – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said the economic recession facing the country will soon be over.

Osinbajo said this in Ede, Osun State on Thursday in an interview with journalists after the eighth convocation of the Redeemer’s University.

He said the recession will end very soon because the Buhari Administration was focused on measures to revive the economy and make it strong.

He said: “As far as we are concerned and so far as all of us who are working seriously hard are concerned, the recession must be short-lived.

“The reason is that as of February last year, we were generating 5,000 megawatts of power and that was the highest ever in the history of this country and that same month the vandalism of the pipelines started.

“So, we lost 60 per cent of gas and 60 per cent of revenue.

“There is nowhere in the world, there is no economy in the world that can lose 60 per cent of its revenue and will not go into some sort of recession, which is actually what has happened to us in this country.

“Once we are able to resolve these issues concerning pipeline vandalism and the diversification of the economy we are working towards, things will change for the better.”

Osinbajo equally said the Federal Government was working towards getting in more foreign investors into the oil and gas sector, particularly refineries, so as to shore up production.

He expressed optimism that with these working out, the future of the country would be bright.

He said: “We are working towards regaining our products locally.

“We are investing more in refineries and private investors are coming into refineries as well.

“If we are able to do this, 70 per cent of what we import will not be imported again.

“Hence, our foreign reserves will be maintained and if it is maintained, our currency will improve.

“I don’t think that life will be bleak because what our country is known for is resilience and people that are extremely hardworking, optimistic and hopeful.

“We have all it takes to be a great country.

“I am quite convinced that the problems we are seeing today will quickly disappear as long as we understand why we are where we are today.”