Osinbajo: Yes, we are slow but blame past governments

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has admitted that the pace of the current administration is slow but blamed the development on “damages of the past”.

Speaking on Thursday when he paid an unscheduled visit to the Mpape artisans’ village in Abuja, Osinbajo highlighted the resurgence of militancy in the region as one of the major challenges confronting this government.

He told his audience of government’s plan to develop small and medium scale enterprises, and to also create sustainable jobs.

Osinbajo was accompanied by Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture.

“We are progressing but it is slow and the reason why it is slow is because there have been a lot of damages in the past,” he said.

“For instance, look at what is happening in the Niger Delta; that is where we get most of the money.

“But when the boys in the Niger Delta decided in blowing up the pipelines, production dropped from the two million barrels per day that we used to do to one million per day and we lost 60 per cent of what we used to earn from oil, that is partly responsible for the problem that you see today.

“We are trying to deal with the problem in the Niger Delta, address farming, industry and the economy so that this problem you are talking about will be fixed permanently.”

He urged the artisans not to despair, saying the government remained focused on improving key sectors that would revive the economy and create jobs for them and other Nigerians.