The Federal Government is planning to spend N2.3 trillion to reposition the country’s economy as part of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan to cushion the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
This was disclosed by Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, at the 2nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Islamic University Malaysia Alumni Association, Nigeria chapter, which held on Saturday.
According to a statement released by the presidential aide on Sunday, the NESP comprised N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund to upgrade health facilities nationwide and finance the national Special Public Works Programme, which is expected to recruit 774,000 Nigerians.
It also entails N1.1 trillion structured lending from the Central Bank of Nigeria, N334 billion to be derived from external bilateral and multilateral sources, and N302.9 billion from other undisclosed sources.
The statement partly read: “The 12-month ‘transit’ scheme under the NESP was developed as a successor plan to the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. When compared to other world economies, the Nigerian economy was not as badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to doomsday projections that had earlier come from the West.”
Adesina urged states and local governments to complement the efforts of the Federal Government to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on the people.
The keynote speaker at the event and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Derby, United Kingdom, Professor Kamil Omoteso, who spoke on ‘Repositioning the Nigerian economy in the COVID-19 era and beyond: The role of Diasporans’, said the country needed to properly harness the potential of its Diaspora population.
