By Bashir Adefaka
Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, says President Muhammadu Buhari has performed to deserve appreciation of Nigerians rather than what some people, because of politicking, are saying about him.
Ngige, who is former Governor of Anambra State, said nobody could have performed better than President Buhari during the years under review considering the state of Nigeria when he took over.
Speaking when he met with journalists in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Sunday, Ngige said Nigerians ought to be clapping for the government of Buhari on a daily basis.
In an after event chat with the minister, Dr. Ngige insisted in a text message to The DEFENDER that he meant what he said in the media chat that he had with journalists in Onitsha earlier on Sunday.
The minister said the situation of the country could have been worse if Buhari had not been elected in 2015, adding that the All Progressives Congress (APC) met the country in “tatters” when it took over from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) three years ago.
“I want you to take something away and that thing is that any other person handling this situation; economy, security, it would have been worse,” he said.
“We are wonderful with the economy; nobody, I mean no person would have done better than this present government in those two areas.
“We came in and oil nosedived to 37 dollars a barrel with a production of 600,000 per day, a drop from 2.2 million and yet we managed the economy out of recession.
“Nigerians should be clapping for us on daily basis, and after thanking God, they should thank us. Yes, because God has used Buhari and some of us to make Nigeria work.”
The minister said the Buhari-led administration had created over eight million jobs through agriculture and allied industries, adding that previous governments had depended on oil money and failed to diversify the economy.
“We’ve encouraged people and said there is dignity in labour with the hand. Today, we are second to America in world production of sorghum; today, we are importing about four percent of the rice needs of the country,” he said.
“Prior to that, this country was spending $5m daily on rice and about $1.8b annually on rice importation. And you don’t want to clap for us!”
