As the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES25) opens on Monday in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari said that the government would partner with the private sector in designing and implementing projects that would keep the nation on track towaed economic prosperity.
Buhari, who declared opened the summit, said that public and private sector leaders should look inward to solve the unique challenges confronting of socio-economic development.
‘‘I am informed that this year’s Summit has identified key job-creating sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, creative industry and extractive industry as focus sectors.
‘‘I am also told that your deliberations will focus on unlocking capital through our financial services sector to actualize the opportunities in these sectors.
‘‘In your deliberations, I would request that your proposals are productive, inventive and innovative keeping in mind that Nigeria’s unique challenges can only be solved by made in Nigeria solutions,’’ he said.
He called for peace and rule of law in sustaining democracy in order to advance the economy and reporting that democracy was getting more matured.
‘‘Today, many mistake prosperity with wealth. They are not necessarily the same.
‘‘Experts and analysts explain economic trends by making references to indicators of wealth.
‘‘Wealth, however, in its simplistic form, is money or other assets. In recent years, global events have shown that when a society and its leaders are driven and motivated by these alone, the ultimate outcome is a divided state of severe inequalities.
Pledging to build a prosperous nation, Buhari said: ‘‘But a prosperous society is one where majority of its citizens have an acceptable standard of living and a decent quality of life.’’
The summit will discuss the position of Nigeria by 2050, when the population would have hit 400 million.
MM/GIK/APA