The richest man in Africa and owner of the Dangote group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, while speaking in an interview with This Day has tasked the President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, to tackle the three major problems that beset the nation namely unemployment, power generation and corruption and to make them his major priority after the May 29 handover.
He told This Day that the business community is set to back Buhari’s administration. He added that the gesture of President Goodluck calling to congratulate General Buhari and conceding defeat had boosted the confidence of investors world over and that the president-elect could tackle some urgent economic needs, the business community would wax stronger.
On the issue of unemployment, he said: “It is a great and pervasive problem in Nigeria. But the point must be made that it is not peculiarly a Nigerian problem. All over the world, there are growing issues of unemployment. And what we are saying is that the in-coming government can achieve a remarkable success in this regard if it declares an emergency on unemployment and tackle it decisively. You know the organised private sector will or should play a key role in this. And that is why we are concerned.”
He further lamented the extent of damage corruption has done to Nigerian economy, describing it as a “big canker worm that has really eaten deep into the fabric of our nation.
“The malaise of corruption is a threat to the survival of the Nigeria economy, no doubt. We must all therefore rise in unison to tackle the menace both in the public and private sector of the economy. The Buhari-led government can show a lot of strength on this issue by showing direction, by demonstrating commitment to ridding every sector of the economy of this malaise.
“I can tell you that a lot will change in Nigeria if this issue is tackled decisively,”
He called on the incoming administration to deal with the power sector squarely and if possible to revisit the privatization of the sector with a view of stabilizing power generation in the nation. according to him, small and medium scale business will experience boom if the power situation is stabilized as well as industrial growth.
