As blessed as we are, Nigerians have no business being classified as poor- Buhari

ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerians have no business with poverty given the enormous resources the country has.

To this end, he has promised to take appropriate measures to stamp out corruption and reposition Nigeria as a prosperous nation that can adequately cater for its citizens.

The President made the assertion, yesterday, at the opening of the 45th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, in Abuja.

The President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia, blamed the poverty in the land on mis-governance and lack of transparency.

Meanwhile, former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, has recommended compulsory assets declaration for all principal officers in the executive arm of government as a means of checking the menace of corruption.

President Buhari said the nation’s ability to create wealth had increasingly been hampered by lack of good governance and accountability in the management of public resources at all levels in the past.

Buhari said: “As blessed as we are as a nation, Nigerians have no business being classified as poor. Yet, through the greed of some unpatriotic few, our commonwealth has been badly pillaged in the name of public service.

“Our ability as a nation to create wealth has increasingly been hampered by the lack of prudence, transparency and honesty in the management of public resources by some of those entrusted with the duty of governance at all levels in the past, so much that in the midst of plenty, Nigerians are now suffering great deprivation.

“This should not be allowed to continue. The project called Nigeria must be given our all. The nation ought and must leave the throes of poverty and underdevelop-ment because I believe we are naturally destined for greatness.’’