Leadership (Abuja)
Golu Timothy
10 October 2008
In spite of the global economic crisis, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday assured the nation to remain calm, saying there was no cause for panic as government was doing everything possible to ensure that its impact did not affect government policies.He added that government-private sector partnership would remain the only way out of the crisis.
Yar'Adua said this when he received a delegation of the Board of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) in his office.
According to him, "There is no better time than now for the government and private sector drivers to collaborate" in view of the current global financial crisis which began in the United States.
He warned that while the immediate impact of the crisis was yet to be felt in the country, the time had come to find solutions to the looming dangers.
Yar'Adua affirmed that the government and the private sector as "equal partners in the national economy" would rise to the challenge and "chart a path to growth."
He also commended the critical role the NESG had been playing by partnering with government to ensure that key economic policies that would lead to the realisation of the Vision 20- 2020 were put in place.
The President while expressing confidence that the 14th Nigerian Economic Summit "will come up with policy directions and programmes to critically address major challenges facing Nigeria," assured the NESG of government's full support on national economic matters and the successful take-off of the Vision 20-2020 structure.
The Chairman of the Board of NESG, Maxi Sam Ohambunwa, had briefed the President on preparations for the coming summit this month, while commending Yar'Adua for involving the private sector in the management of the nation's economy.
Meanwhile, as exclusively reported by LEADERSHIP Newspapers on Wednesday, President Yar'Adua has appointed three officials of the opposition All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) as special advisers.
In a statement by the presidential spokesman, Adeniyi Olusegun, the three appointees are: Senator Saidu Umar Kumo (Inter party relations), Prince Chineeme Ume Ezeoke (Civil Society Relations) and Prince Ebuta Ojong Ayuk (Informal Sector Coordinator).
While Kumo is the National Secretary of the ANPP, Ezeoke is the son of the ANPP Chairman, Chief Edwin Ume - Ezeoke.
The appointment takes effect upon resumption of office.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Almost a month after the global credit crisis began, King Tarry-A-Doer finally found his voice to address Nigerians. This guy reminds me of the story of Rip Van Winkle - An amiable man whose home and farm suffer from his lazy neglect, he is loved by all but his wife. One autumn day he escaped his nagging wife by wandering up the mountains. After drinking some liquor, he settled down under a shady tree and fell asleep. He wakes up twenty years later and returns to his village. He finds out that his wife is dead and his close friends… [Read Full Text]