Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima has declared that the administration of President Bola Tinubu will not back down on its avowed commitment to improving the quality of life of the average Nigerian to uplift them from poverty.
According to him, this has been demonstrated in some of the policies and programmes planned by the government, even as he said the Renewed Hope administration is committed to harnessing the potential of the country’s huge population.
The Vice President, who stated this on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa when he received, on a courtesy visit, a delegation from the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, led by its Executive Director, Dr Natalia Kanem, noted that “there is beauty in numbers but it is also important to have qualitative numbers.”
The Vice President said the administration’s focus on women and children is premised on the fact that “the health and vitality of any nation is measured by the way women and the girl child are treated.
“By educating the girl child, we can transform our communities into better places for everyone,” he added.
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Shettima, who was appreciative of the support of the UNFPA to Nigeria over the years, said the Nigerian government, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also identifies with the aspirations and goals of UNFPA.
He said: “UNFPA is one organisation that has identified with the challenges of the Nigerian nation over the decades. You are doing a wonderful job; you have continued from where your predecessor, the late Babatunde Osotimehin, stopped.”
Recalling his days as the Executive Governor of Borno State, the Vice President recounted the role played by the agency.
“Identifying with the yearnings and aspirations of our people during our darkest hours; UNFPA was a permanent feature in Borno State,” he said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Shettima appealed to UNFPA and other development partners to support the Tinubu administration’s bid to actualise its goal of improving the welfare and well-being of Nigerians.
“Our growing population as a nation requires urgent action to be taken to improve the quality of life and livelihoods. I urge you to leverage your influence and use your contacts to see that these challenges are resolved. Let’s work as a team and as a family,” the vice president stated.
Earlier, the executive director of UNFPA, Dr. Kanem, commended Nigeria’s longstanding partnership with the agency since 1973.
He extended an invitation to the Nigerian President to join her for the launch of the State of World Population report in Abuja on Wednesday, April 24.