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Nigeria experiencing serious economic challenges: president

Xinhua, August 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nigeria had been experiencing serious economic challenges occasioned by the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market, President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday.

The Nigerian leader stated this when he received the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and UN Under Secretary General, Babatunde Osotimehin, at the State House in Abuja, the country's capital city.

Buhari told his guest that his administration's commitment to transparency and accountability is serving the government in good stead, despite severe shortage of resources in the country.

"It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about 100 U.S. dollars per barrel," he added.

"Then it crashed to 37 dollars, and now oscillates between 40 dollars and 45 dollars per barrel," he said.

"Suddenly, we're a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage," Buhari added.

The president urged the UNFPA to bear with Nigeria in whichever area the country could not live up to its responsibilities for now.

According to him, exploding population and different cultural practices in the country will provide fertile ground for research to organisations like UNFPA.

Buhari thanked the UN agency for its commitment to saving lives in Nigeria, particularly of women and children.

On food security, the president said reports from the North East of the country were encouraging, as people were returning to their farmlands, with the guarantee of relative security.

Osotimehin, a former Minister of Health in Nigeria, said UNFPA was determined to promote health care facilities across the country.

According to him, reduction of maternal mortality was doable, if the country paid more attention to access to health facilities and human resources to run them.

He also encouraged Nigeria to commit to providing resources for health care, on a rollover basis.

Osotimehin pledged that the UN would work with the country to provide humanitarian assistance not only in the North East, but even extended to the Lake Chad basin. Endit