There is no need for a new residence for the Vice President
as the current one, called Aguda House, is up to standard with enough space and
well managed, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said. The Vice President said
this on Friday while responding to questions at the Pastors and Leaders Retreat
of the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos.
Mr. Osinbajo said the N6
billion already spent on the project was a misapplication of fund but added
that with the level of construction already done, it would not be abandoned. He
said the present administration would complete it but consider putting it to
other use. “There is no need for a new Vice President’s house; it is a kind of
waste; we are now in a situation where we cannot abandon it; it has to be
completed and used for a different thing,’’ he said. The Vice President also
explained the misunderstanding about the State House Medical Centre which he
said was not only for workers at the state house. He said it was a general hospital
with a lot of facilities and serving all Nigerians, adding that he would prefer
that it be further equipped to provide higher medical services to those in
need. Mr. Osinbajo debunked insinuation of lack of data in the country, saying
the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics had enormous data resources rated highly by
the World Bank and other international agencies. He, however, said that the
country had yet to have adequate data. He added that the intention of
government was to aggregate the scattered data in INEC, CBN, National
Population Census Commission into one by the National Identity Card Management
Commission. He also said the education sector lacked not only standards but
adequacy of institutions which led to Nigerians sponsoring their children abroad
for tertiary education. He explained that while 1.8 million Nigerians sat for
university entrance examination yearly, only about 300,000 were offered
admission due to dearth of universities. He said the government was planning to
convert many of the existing universities into centres of excellence and
support the private sector in the running of universities to enable more
Nigerians to have access to tertiary education. He said infrastructure
development was key in the administration which informed the voting of 30 per
cent of the 2016 appropriation to capital projects. Mr. Osinbajo added that the
Ministry of Industry had 18 months mandate to improve the ease of doing
business. He, however, said the Bank of Industry was collaborating with other
financial institutions to bring down the interest rate on loans for small
businesses. The VP said the judicial system was replete with problems which
needed the collaboration of the states and the Federal Government to make it
faster and enable more Nigerians to obtain justice. Before responding to
questions, Mr. Osinbajo had said that what the country needed was truth and
integrity which the Church should spearhead. “The Church is where the truth is;
the Church has the answer to the nation’s problems; one of the problems of our
society is integrity,’’ he said. He explained that the corruption in the
country was not caused because a few individuals chose to be corrupt but that
the entire system was built around lack of integrity. Mr. Osinbajo said the
country would be great again but noted that the foundation for the greatness
had to be laid with a lot of pains. “Unless we tackle graft, we may not be able
to achieve something. “The Federal Government in the past 10 years could not
build a single new road, not repairing existing ones alone. “Now we have a
President who will not steal money and who will not allow anybody to steal
money,’’ he said. Mr. Osinbajo said the nation lacked the capacity to get
things done which was difficult to understand but “with God on our side, our
country will set the pace for Africa”. “Our people are ready to do it and they
can do it but they are waiting for the right kind of leadership. “I know why
you are praying for us is that this is a good opportunity to get it right and
we don’t want to miss this chance.’’ Taiwo Odukoya, the leader of the Church,
asked Christians to continue to pray for the administration as Nigeria had a
great future. He said the present administration would lead the people to a
more prosperous and secure nation. Earlier, Mr. Osinbajo had preached at the
burial service for his childhood friend, Bola Omotesho, at the Olive Parish of
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Banana Island, Lagos. He urged Nigerians
to lead good lives to rest in peace as there was actually no peaceful rest for
a bad soul in spite of the earthly prayers offered for the soul. He said the
late Mr. Omotesho lived lives worthy of emulation and having been born again
since 1994 and living it until he died, God would accept his soul.
(NAN)
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