Nigerians prioritize Buhari on job creation, power supply in 2020 –Report

As the new fiscal year beckons, Nigerians have set their expectations for the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari on job creation and improved power supply to drive domestic use.

An annual new year Poll by NOI Polls shows that Nigerians are hopeful of a better economic environment in the 2020 fiscal year.

They believe that great expectations also lie in the government to focus on key areas to create desired socio-economic changes that would stimulate the development of the nation as well as affect the lives of the citizens positively; NOIPolls Annual New Year Poll to gauge the expectations of Nigerians for 2020 has shown.

The poll result revealed that the top three areas most Nigerians want the government to focus its attention on in 2020 are the Economy which represents 70 per cent, Job creation 69 per cent and Electricity supply 62 per cent.

Others include Education 55 per cent, Infrastructural development 38 per cent, Healthcare 29 per cent, Agriculture 23 per cent and Security 7 per cent.

However, the NOI said that during the course of the survey, most of the respondent lamented the increasing cost of goods and services in the country especially food items, adding that  average Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the increase in the nation’s GDP,

Also, the survey stated that Nigerians expect massive job creation to curb the rising scourge of unemployment in the country as well as adequate power supply.

“With regards to Job creation, 69 per cent of Nigerians want the government to channel its resources to ensuring that they create more jobs for its citizens in 2020

“This will go a long way in reducing the level of poverty and the number of dependent people as well as in reducing the crime rate in the country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 23.10 per cent in the third quarter of 2018 from 22.70 per cent in the second quarter of 2018.

“Opinion on power revealed that 62 per cent of the respondents expect the government to significantly focus its attention on the sector, considering that this sector has faced huge challenges over the years. The status quo in terms of electricity generation and distributions are still inadequate considering the country’s population.

“Adequate electricity means that Nigerians will be empowered to work from the domestic level and the cottage industries, through the small-scale and medium industries to employment in the large-scale manufacturing complexes.

Therefore, the federal government and concerned stakeholders need to place a high priority on ensuring that challenges surrounding these sectors that Nigerians have singled out are drastically improved to improve the economy and foster national development in the country,” the outcome of the survey further stated