ILORIN- MINISTER of Finance Dr Ngozi Okonjo-I weala said yesterday in ilorin that despite condemnations, the economic reforms of the present administration has resulted into an unprecedented influx of foreign investors into the country adding that by the end of year 2004, the Federal Government would have saved 5.2m Dollars as oil surplus money.
Dr. Iweala who flew into Ilorin from Paris said this as a special guest of honor in the first Kwara State Economic Summit, held in kwara hotels.
The finance Minister explained that the Economic reforms has made the foreign investors to realize that Nigerians are the most wonderful and friendly people to deal with "if you know how to approach them, they will also know how to approach you. I know they will always bring a lot of benefits" she added.
Commending Governor Bukola Saraki for the neatness of Ilorin city in her opening remarks, She said that as a result of the reform, in her state, Abia, some south Africans are planning to build an Independent Power Plant for electricity that will cost close to a billion dollars, while a retail shopping center to be built in Lagos by another foreign investor, with 32M Dollars, was also underway all in 2005.
She also said that a young Nigerian couple, who so much believed in the economic reforms had sold the house and also borrowed to rake 500,000 Dollars so as to establish a factory in Otta, Ogun state where anti-retroviral vaccines/Drugs for HIV/AIDS patients would be manufacture.
The Minister added among others that a 1.5M Dollars worth Pharmaceutical factory by a Nigerian U.S based Pharmaceutical company would soon take off in Kano.
She noted that in 2005 the 50 per cent of the 5.2M dollars excess oil fund on the budget price of 25 Dollars per barrel would be invested on roads, health and education while the remaining 50 per cent would be kept incase the oil price crashes " we should have something to fall on," she added.
The Minister also said that in 2005, the Federal Government had concluded plans to totally reform the police with enhanced salaries and better equipment "next year we will equip the police better, we will make sure they are paid on time and increase the number from120,000 to about 320,000 personnel." she said.
She charged Nigerians to change their social values by desisting from celebrating overnight millionaires and fraudsters who flaunt their wealth, stressing that the act largely contribute to the economic decay Nigeria found her self today. "we should be inquisitive about how people make their money, we should ask question whether this is right or wrong, Nigerians should promote honesty and integrity," she counseled.
In his own address, Governor Bukola Saraki said the state, SEED’s document that would be produced from economic summit would come in form of access to data and the funding of the project and programmes in the SEED’s in the years ahead.
The governor, who lamented that the amount of support fund that came into Nigeria has not been matched with development charged the donor agencies "to adopt "selective generosity" by developing parameters and criteria that states must meet before they are entitled to donor support. This will not only encourage healthy competition among state, but also improve the overall workings of the government across the country."The governor underscoring his commitment to make kwara state better than he meet it said "it is better for history to blame us for under performing for 37 years, than for posterity to condemn us for groping in the dark forever. Now we have the opportunity to turn it in a different direction so that our children would look back many years from now and say yes, they wasted some time, but they charted the road that brought us here."
