By Cross Udo, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has warned that Nigeria’s quest for economic transformation will remain elusive unless the country breaks away from its dependence on raw-material exports and builds value-added production chains that can compete in global markets.
Speaking at the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) in Abuja, Shettima urged state governments to collaborate with the Federal Government to dismantle logistical, regulatory, and compliance barriers that continue to hinder Nigerian products from reaching international markets.
The Vice President said the President Bola Tinubu administration’s economic reforms have entered a critical stage where citizens must begin to feel the impact through increased productivity, job creation, higher incomes and expanded market opportunities.
“We cannot continue to export raw materials, and import finished prosperity,” Shettima declared.
According to him, Nigeria’s future prosperity depends on its ability to move beyond exporting primary commodities and develop a complete value chain that links production to processing, processing to standards, and standards to global markets.
The Vice President stressed that the country’s economic agenda must be measured by tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians, particularly farmers, manufacturers, young people and vulnerable citizens.
“When this Council last met, I called our economy a workshop. A place of measurement and correction. A place where plans are turned into systems, and systems into institutions before any of it becomes prosperity.
“A workshop is judged by one thing, not by the plans pinned to its walls, but by what comes off the bench. We return to that bench today, not to admire the image, but to ask the question that honours it: Is the work taking shape?” he said.
Shettima noted that Nigeria is gradually moving from economic stabilisation to production and implementation, adding that the focus must now be on delivering measurable outcomes across the federation.
“The assignment has not changed. We remain a federation moving from stabilisation to production, from aspiration to implementation, and from isolated interventions to coordinated national growth. What has changed, I hope, is our proximity to delivery,” he stated.
The Vice President said the council remained committed to ensuring that economic growth is inclusive and does not leave vulnerable citizens behind.
“A federation does not earn its prosperity by leaving its most vulnerable behind and hoping they catch up. The dignity of the citizen with the least is the floor beneath which we have resolved that no Nigerian shall fall,” he said.
On agricultural exports, Shettima lamented that many Nigerian farmers and producers continue to face avoidable obstacles in moving goods from farms to ports and ultimately to international markets.
He called on state governments to support efforts to address transportation bottlenecks, improve compliance with international standards, and strengthen export infrastructure.
According to him, meeting global standards should not be viewed as a burden but as a necessary condition for accessing markets that offer better returns to Nigerian producers.
“A nation that cannot move its goods has imprisoned its own farmers,” the Vice President said.
“Meeting international standards is not submission to foreign demand. It is the price of the markets that will reward our labour.”
Shettima maintained that unlocking Nigeria’s export potential would not only improve earnings for farmers and manufacturers but also boost foreign exchange inflows, strengthen industrialisation and create sustainable jobs.
He urged state governments to align with the Federal Government’s efforts to build a more productive economy, insisting that coordinated action remains essential to achieving the Tinubu administration’s development objectives.
The NEC meeting also reviewed key economic and social development initiatives as the administration intensifies efforts to translate ongoing reforms into broad-based growth and improved living standards for Nigerians.
