The 2011 budget being the first budget based on the Vision
20:2020’s First National Implementation Plan is targeted at helping
Nigeria gain self sufficiency in many aspects.
I shall be
taking time out during the coming weeks to update you on the various
ways this budget envisages that this would be done. For example, in
the area of health and
agriculture, the government has gone a long way to ensure that Nigeria can both feed itself and care for its population.
As
part of the budgetary allocation to the health sector are funds to
establish scientific research institutes that will focus on areas that
directly impact health care in Nigeria such as HIV, Malaria, Cholera,
sickle cell anaemia and Cancer. We are committed to ensuring that the
ingenuity of the Nigerian scientist is applied towards solving our
greatest health care challenges knowing that because some of these
diseases are peculiar to Africa, they may not be a priority to the
research institutes of governmental and private pharmaceutical research
industries of the West.
In the agricultural
sector, the budget makes provision to continue government's investment
in the sector which has as its aim to make Nigeria self sufficient in
food production. The Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) will
be continued and pursued with more vigour. Already, 96 billion Naira of
the 200 billion Naira earmarked for that scheme has been released in 18
states. The Ministry of Transport is poised this year to revive the
rail ways and is devoting focused attention to those routes that will
help get cash crops from the agrarian communities to the major
commercial outlets. Provision has been made to build more silos and
maintain those already in existence. In fact 54.22 billion Naira is
earmarked for Food Security comprising N29.46 billion for Agriculture
and 24.76 billion Naira for Water Resources.
I
specifically requested that the Minister of Agriculture and his team
apply intelligent ideas to mechanising our agriculture and all such
ideas were implemented in the budget such that water will flow in
almost every agricultural community in Nigeria because as a zoologist I
know that food grows were water flows
Government
is also planning big for Human Capital Development of which 102.3
billion Naira has been earmarked for that purpose with 35.01 billion
Naira for Education, 33.35 billion Naira for Health, 33.81 billion
Naira for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) interventions. I have
always been convinced that Nigeria will develop when Nigerians are
developed hence government's huge investment in developing personnel
These
are just a few of the plans we will be implementing this year. As I
have already said above I will be taking time to tell you more about
our plans for Nigeria in other sectors in the coming weeks.
