The Presidency on Saturday stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent official trip to Morocco would yield 18,000 new jobs, among other benefits for Nigeria.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a document titled ‘President Buhari’s visit to Morocco: Six quick takeaways’, which he made available to journalists.
Shehu said the President, who visited Morocco between June 10 and 11, signed many memoranda of understanding and agreements that would produce the new jobs and many others.
He said the development reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to making a difference by linking foreign policy directly to Nigeria’s economic interests.
He noted that the Federal Government’s programme of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former agitators in the Niger Delta as part of the Amnesty Programme brought calmness to the country at its commencement.
“If the disarmament and rehabilitation of 30,000 ex-agitators could do so much for the nation, how far would 18,000 skilled and unskilled new jobs go towards cementing that peace?
“While analysts take their time to assimilate and give us the answer as to how much good the new jobs will bring, President Buhari, who visited the Kingdom of Morocco from June 10 to June 11, 2018, signed onto memoranda of understanding and agreements leading to the new jobs and many others,” he said.
The presidential spokesman said the jobs in view would from the commitment to the Regional Gas Pipeline, which will connect Nigeria’s gas resources, those of some West African countries and Morocco, thereby fostering integration and development of countries in the West African region.
He said the jobs would also come from the establishment of a Basic Chemicals Platform, specifically to develop a significant Ammonia Production Plant by the Kingdom of Morocco in the Niger Delta.
