More than half of Nigerians are poor - Jonathan

Sola Fadare, Lagos - 25.07.2008

The Vice President, Dr.Goodluck Jonathan, has disclosed that more than half of Nigerians are still living below poverty level, the situation he described as worrisome and therefore not acceptable to the government.

The Vice president said on Thursday in Lagos at the 36th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) that the performance of the present administration in the past one year had been ‘remarkable’ but admitted that it had not reflected in the lives of the people.

He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Yar’Adua administration to articulate its seven-point agenda which "is the key to creation of wealth, employment generation and value adding avenue to Nigerians.

Speaking on the power sector, the VP said the power crisis remained the most challenging task of the Federal government, saying with the power reforms and gas master plan, the government should be able to generate a total of 10,000megawatts by 2011.

He called on the private sector to support the government policies without which they could not succeed. "Industrial development requires research, innovation, talent development and development of vibrant Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and government is committed to alleviating poverty by giving enabling environment for the industries to thrive," he noted.