Nigeria’s finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, has reassured Nigerians that despite the current hardship being experienced in the country, the economy is on its way up.

She said this on Thursday, May 26, 2016 when she appeared before the House of Representatives to brief the members on the diversification of the economy.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had invited the Minister on Wednesday, 25 May, 2016 to appear before the House following remarks by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, that a recession was imminent in the country.

The Minister in her speech explained that President Muhammadu Buhari and his team were doing their best to turn around the seeming economic lull in the country.

She said that at a recent meeting with Governors of the 36 states of the federation, there was a unanimous adoption of a 22-point resolution aimed at reducing state debts, borrowings and increasing revenue generation.

On the issue of ghost workers, Adeosun said tremendous progress has been made in that regard, stressing that with the coming on board of some federal government agencies to the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS), thousands of ghost workers have been discovered and the government has saved huge amounts of money as a result.

She also said that the Nigeria Police Force has commenced enrollment of its officers and men to the system, and that the Military has also agreed to key into the process. She expressed optimism that by the end of the year, all Federal Government Parastatals will have been enrolled into the IPPIS.

The Minister shed light on President Buhari’s foreign travels, explaining that they were intended to rebuild Nigeria’s badly damaged international image and also to put more pressure on countries where the nation’s looted funds were stashed in order to facilitate repatriation of such funds. She added that there’s been significant progress in the recovery of stolen loots, many of which are in form of property, stock and even luxury jewelries.

Kemi Adeosun also said that plans are underway to evolve ways of discouraging corruption especially among civil servants. She said that as corrupt elements are being identified and shamed; upright individuals should likewise be commended and encouraged. To this effect, the minister said that the FG is planning a social housing scheme which will guarantee retiring and serving civil servants decent homes of their own, adding that lack of shelter was a major reason why civil servants get involved in corrupt practices.

Adeosun urged Nigerian investors to show more interest and confidence in the country’s investment potentials by investing in the country so that foreign investors would have confidence in the Nigerian economy.