Senate President tasks committees to address major challenges facing the nation

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday, charged standing committees of the upper chamber to ensure the discharge of their duties with a view to addressing major challenges facing the nation.

Lawan gave the charge in his remarks during the inauguration of the standing committees of the Senate.

He said, “Our country is facing the challenges of insecurity, while our largely youthful population is affected by unemployment, among other problems. Fortunately, we are also blessed with abundant agricultural land”.

“We are similarly endowed with abundant solid minerals in all parts of our country. The oil and gas resources have remained our major source of revenue. Our challenges can be appropriately addressed with our rich endowments. What we require therefore is the strategic deployment of those resources”.

“We can plan and use our agricultural potentials to achieve not only national food security but also the process for exports. Again, our solid minerals sector is largely untapped and we can exploit those resources through the right policies and supportive legislation.”

He, therefore, called on relevant standing committees to look into the challenges such as insecurity and unemployment, as well as ensure reforms in the petroleum and agricultural sectors of the economy with a view to addressing them through the instrument of legislation.