We'll focus more on project completion in 2012, says Okonjo-IwealaIT shouldn't come to this but surely we have ventured abroad with plainly exposed bracelets of corncobs; cockerels must pull their wits on us now.What will the Great Zik of Africa say' How are the late Sir Ahmadu Bello and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa feeling in their graves now' What would the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, think of us now' That they, nationalistic roaring fires who sent our colonisers packing have died out to produce cold ashes as prodigies'In any case, former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has submitted that Nigeria's stunted economic growth has a lot to do with our country's infrastructural deficit, no thanks to systemic neglect by successive regimes.But perhaps piqued by Brown's submission, Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated that while the Federal Government intends to improve the country's infrastructure through the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the 2012 budget would focus more on project completion than initiating new ones.Brown, who delivered the Keynote Address at the first Rivers State Investors Forum organised by a group of entrepreneurs in collaboration with the state government yesterday in Port Harcourt, said Nigeria's economy has the capacity to grow by more than seven per cent if it had critical infrastructure like stable power.He observed that for almost 200 years Europe and the United States had dominated the world economy in the areas of manufacturing and consumer spending stressing, however, that the trend has changed from last year when for the first time in two centuries, the rest of the world produced and invested more than Europe and the U.S.Brown noted that Nigeria, with its vast oil, gas, agriculture and human potential can within the next 30 to 40 years surpass major European economies like Italy and Spain, if it invested more of its resources in infrastructure development, including electricity, roads, rail transportation and education.According to him, 'prosperity does depend on infrastructure and no matter how good the resources are, if the transport, road water and power are not there then there can't be meaningful development'.The former British leader pointed out that improvement in infrastructure accounted for one per cent out of the seven per cent economic growth recorded by Nigeria.He noted that Nigeria would have done better if it had infrastructure at the level necessary for businesses and industries to flourish.Brown urged the Nigerian leadership to quickly diversify the economy and pay special attention to the manufacturing sector, which is capable of generating employment for the teeming populace.According to him, the reality of today's global economy has indicated that Europe and the United States can no longer dominate global economy, hence countries like Nigeria now have the opportunity of securing prosperity for their citizens.Brown decried a situation where Nigeria, despite its vast resources, has the highest number of children out of school, putting the figure at eight million and insisting that something needs to be done urgently to reverse the trend by allowing these children to realise their potential in life.On her part, Okonjo-Iweala said the SWF would not just be used as an instrument for saving for future generation, but it would also be deployed to provide critical infrastructure to drive Nigeria's economy in addition to saving the country from oil price volatility.She noted that irrespective of the misgivings about the excess crude fund, it helped save Nigerian economy from the global financial crisis.The minister also assured that government would curb leakages in the economy, oil sector and deficit in the budget, among others.Okonjo-Iweala said: 'We want to show the world that we can manage our finances better. We want to look at the way we spend. We have been spending above our means. The structure of our spending is not what we want to see. We cannot be in a situation where we are spending most of our money on recurrent expenditures, paying salaries and overhead without enough to invest in our economy.'She stressed that the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was 'bent on creating an environment where monetary and fiscal policy can work in consonance to ensure stability and promote economic growth.'To this end, she said the Federal Government was tackling current security challenges.Okonjo-Iweala also urged state government to pursue prudent fiscal policy in order to key into the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.She observed that states have common weaknesses in budget planning and execution, accountability, while charging themto privatise any of their 'enterprises which is a drag on the economy and for which they areusing their budgetary resources to support.'The minister assured that the Federal Government was determined to push its ports reforms through. According to her, importing goods and exporting goods have become a source of frustration for business people in the country.Governor Chibuike Amaechi said Rivers' economy was growing at a fast rate, accounting for 10 per cent of the country's GDP, hence has become the darling of investors and businesses.He declared: 'Now we can proudly proclaim that Rivers State is working again and that Port Harcourt is the place to be.'Amaechi said his administration had instituted reforms in the education and health sectors as well as its human and land resources to drive change capable of attracting investors to Rivers.Convener, Rivers State Investment Forum, Atedo Peterside, assured that the resolutions reached at the end of the forum would 'provide solutions to stimulate public/private collaboration geared towards rapid transformation of Rivers State and the country as a whole.
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