From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The United Nations (UN) has pledged to help Nigeria arrest the nation”s economic woes particularly inflation and currency depreciation.
The new UN Resident Co-ordinator to Nigeria, Mohammed Malik Fall made the promise in Abuja when he visited the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in Abuja.
Fall said that the UN was willing to assist Nigeria in tackling the economic challenges of inflation and currency depreciation the nation is facing at the moment, as these challenges have a way of impacting negatively on vulnerable groups in the country.
He promised to bring all the assets in the UN System including the UN Country team, United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) among others in order to tackle Nigeria’s peculiar challenges in an articulated manner, and also deliver as one to avoid duplication.
In his remarks, Atiku Bagudu called on the development partners to enable Nigeria have access to long term capital for its economic growth and development.
In a statement, the minister appreciated the interventions of the UN System in the country. He particularly commended the UN System for the support given to Borno citizens by encouraging them to go back to their farms and villages.
Recall that the Borno citizens have suffered several years of insurgency in the North East of the country.
Bagudu hoped that the UN Partnership would be sustained in the country while extolling the United Nations as the greatest tool for drawing attention to issues of inequality, hunger and poverty in the world.
Fall is on his second tour of duty having served as a representative of UNICEF in his first tour of duty.