Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Monday, said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was working assiduously to change the country’s economic fortune.

Mr Shettima stated this when he received the management of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) led by its commandant, Ayodele Adeleke, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The NISS delegation presented the report of a study conducted by 86 participants in the institute’s Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 16band.

The theme of the presentation was “Globalisation and Regional Economic Integration: Implications for Sustainable Development in Africa.”

Mr Shettima assured that Mr Tinubu’s administration was determined to bequeath a country that is firmly on the path of prosperity.

According to him, so far, the Tinubu-led federal government has made bold and courageous decisions that will, in the long run, change Nigeria’s economic fortune.

This, he noted, is the reason behind the present administration’s determination to ensure youth empowerment and human capital development.

He commended the faculty and members of the EIMC 16 for their efforts, noting that the recommendations of the study align with the perspectives of the Tinubu administration.

“Especially the advocacy for investing in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and infrastructure development.”

Mr Shettima described the theme of the EIMC 16 research study as very apt, “especially given the circumstances we have found ourselves in on the African continent.

“We are challenged from all angles – cyber-terrorism, human and drug trafficking, money laundering, transnational extremism and banditry, and the challenges of climate change.”

On economic diversification, Mr Shettima noted that in the next 20 to 30 years, oil may not be as valuable as it is today.

“Our only luck and happiness is that we are largely a gas nation. But our most important resource is our human capital which we need to harness.

“We have to invest in education. I believe that with the right infrastructure and qualitative leadership, we can transform this nation,” he stated.

Mr Shettima further noted that with the right leadership at all levels of governance, the country’s growing population could be harnessed and positively deployed to transform the economy.

“Let us create jobs, engage the youths; let us invest in their education. All these challenges of terrorism and banditry will be contained but the fundamental question is the quality of leadership.”

EIMC is designed to provide strategic-level security/intelligence officers, as well as top-level management, with the requisite skills to handle their positions and contribute positively to the implementation of national security policies and national development.

The participants for EIMC 16 were drawn from 35 agencies in Nigeria and four other African countries of Chad, Gambia, Niger and Rwanda.

Earlier, the commandant of the institute, Mr Adeleke, thanked Mr Tinubu for his commitment to excellence and a sense of responsibility since he assumed office.

“The EIMC is a flagship programme of the institute, among other courses, aimed at impacting the requisite knowledge to participants.

“The course will equip them with leadership skills to be able to address the dynamics of national and global security challenges in their respective countries as well as to foster inter-agency synergy and international cooperation.”

The commandant called on African economies to invest in ICT infrastructure as a key driver for economic growth while investing in research and development.

(NAN)