President Muhammadu Buhari says the current economic crisis plaguing the nation is a blessing in disguise.
Buhari said this at the opening ceremony of the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Nation Building in Abuja on Thursday.
The President said that through the hardship, Nigerians would be able to come up with ideas that would in turn lead to development.
He said, “The global economic challenges the world is grappling with today might well turn out to be a blessing for us in Nigeria, because it will stimulate the latent economic opportunities that we have left untapped for decades.
“Poverty breeds disaffection, which in turn leads to crime and lawlessness including confrontation against the State. To checkmate this, we must work hard to lift our economy, engage our youth and rebuild infrastructure.
“We can only achieve these with the full cooperation of all Nigerians and under a stable polity. We are determined to do this and we shall not be deterred.
”Buhari lamented the level of official corruption in the nation, adding that it led to many years of hardship for Nigerians.
He, however, promised to do everything possible to curb the menace.
While declaring the conference open, the President commended the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’a Wa Iqamatis Sunna and the Muslim World League for the event at a time when the nation is grappling with insecurity.
Buhari, who described Boko Haram as a mindless terrorist organisation, said the Federal Government was winning the fight against insurgency.
He said once the war is over, the government would commission a sociological study to determine the origin, the remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, its international connections if any, to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a resurgence.