The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has attributed the slow pace of economic growth in Nigeria to the huge disparity between the country’s large population and limited resources.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, he pointed out that the government has made progress in stabilising the exchange rate and increasing revenue available to states. He however admitted that many Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of these gains in their daily lives.
Bwala maintained that increased federal revenue is already translating into higher allocations to the states, which he said are improving governance and delivering tangible and state-level interventions.
Responding to question on why many Nigerians are still suffering despite gains the current administration claimed to have recorded across sectors, the presidential spokesman said, “The answer is simple, population and resources.
“The population we have is over 230 million. The resources we have, however, the increased revenue, is not enough to match the population and deficit in terms of the infrastructure. So, growth, however, will have to be slow. But it will be slow, steady, and consistent. That is what we take pride in.”
“When you talk about the increased revenue, the effect of that increased revenue is the higher allocation to states, which has resulted in state administration improvements and has also impacted the people. So, the increased revenue is directly proportional to the positive effect that we see in states because of the increased allocation,” he said.
Bwala insisted that the government of President Bola Tinubu has introduced policies that have affected the common man on the street, citing the following instances:
“When we talk about over one million beneficiaries of the Student Loan Fund (NELFUND), these are not children of the rich; these are children of the poor. Without the intervention in this regard, they may not have had the opportunity to achieve their dreams. That is a direct impact on the poor.
“When we talk about transportation, look at what the CNG initiative has done. The direct effect is on the poor man.
“When we talk about healthcare, look at the Caesarean section initiative I told you about last time, and look at the 50% subsidy on dialysis. These are for poor people because rich people don’t need that; most of them go abroad. So, every policy introduced by this government has the poor as its direct beneficiaries,” he said.
