President Goodluck Jonathan said that he prays every day not to hand over Boko Haram insurgency to any future president of Nigeria.
Jonathan who stated this yesterday at the commissioning of Wuye Ultra Modern Market in Abuja, humorously said that he had been identified as the luckiest president to have supervised the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Nigeria’s independence, and the Nigeria centenary anniversary, but, failed to be identified as the luckiest president managing Boko Haram insurgency.
He described the Wuye Ultra Modern Market which is a collaborative venture between the FCTA and All Purpose Shelters Limited, as a New Year gift to FCT residents. He said the market would become one of the major hobs of economic activities in the FCT, saying that the successful execution of the project demonstrated the commitment and capacity of government to synergise with the private sector to execute projects that are beneficial to Nigerians.
“We therefore welcome and continue to support active private participation in the development of this great country of ours. Check the life line of every economy, market is the centre of every economy. For an economy to grow, it must trade at several physical levels, it must trade meaningfully with the wider world, like external trade, trade robustly with neighbours, like external trade amongst neighbouring countries and most importantly there must be a robust trade within the country.
“These three pillars are key element in Nigeria’s intending trade strategy and policies. In this country, we have the history of markets that have contributed to the growth of our economy and social life. Like the Onitsha Market, Kano and Ibadan Markets amongst others. Some of these markets are not used by only Nigerians, but also by neighbouring countries. The Kano market is a good example of that.
“It is markets like this Wuye Market that carries on internal trade and must carry on with the tradition. Internal trade in Nigeria has grown on an average of about 11.5per cent over the last five years. Last year, wholesale and retail trades in Nigeria accounted for over 15 per cent of our GDP. More than N6.5trn of our economic activities in our country came from domestic trade alone.
