2021 Budget: FG Proposes N13 trillion as Defense top list; Calabar-Lagos Coastal Line Captured
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, 8th October 2020 presented the proposed 2021 Budget of N13 trillion termed Budget of Economic Recovery and Resilience to the joint session of the National Assembly.
The financial document according to President Buhari will address key economic issues as the country tries to recover from the impact of the coronavirus and the oil price drop.
It is expected to accelerate the pace of our economic recovery, promote economic diversification, enhance competitiveness and ensure social inclusion.
Buhari said that over the last year, this Administration has implemented several priority projects. I am happy to report that much progress has been made on several fronts and our government has delivered on key policies, programmes and projects in these priority are
”In agriculture, we have recorded appreciable success in rice and other crops mainly through the Anchor Borrowers Programme and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, respectively. We are also accelerating the construction of 337 rural roads around key agricultural corridors to enhance access to market and reduce post-harvest losses. These efforts have reduced the adverse impact of Coronavirus on our food availability, prices and security]”.
“We have made progress on the railway projects connecting different parts of the country. The Lagos-Ibadan Line will soon be operational. The Abuja-Kaduna Line is running efficiently. The Itakpe-Ajaokuta Line was finally completed after over 30 years since it was initiated and commissioned in September 2020.
Continuing he said, “arrangements are underway to complete the Ibadan-Kano Line. Also, work will soon commence on the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line and which will connect the Southern and Eastern States to the North, and the South-South as well as South-East to the North, and South-West, respectively.
The Second Niger Bridge is at about 46 per cent completion. We hope to commission the project before the end of our tenure in 2023. We have awarded several contracts to rehabilitate, reconstruct and construct major arterial roads, in order to reduce the hardship to commuters and increase economic activity.
“As skills’ deficits limit employment opportunities in the formal economy, various skills’ development programmes are being implemented simultaneously to address this problem frontally. For instance, the Government is implementing the Special Public Works programme to provide employment opportunities to 774,000 youths across the 774 local government areas of Nigeria. We have also recently introduced the N75 billion Nigeria Youth Investment Fund, of which N25 billion have been provided in 2021 Budget.’