Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has predicted that the country is destined to become a major economic force in the world under President Bola Tinubu.

Shettima who made the prediction while playing host to a delegation from the Commonwealth Enterprise Investment Council (CWEIC) led by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rosie Glazerbrook, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday, said he was optimistic that despite the present economic challenges, the President will turn things around with his “bold reforms and policies.”

According the former Borno State governor, the Tinubu-led administration is “committed to creating an unprecedented enabling environment for both local and foreign investors to thrive.”

“This is being done through harnessing resources of the country’s youth population in digital technology, improving electricity supply, boosting production and manufacturing, among other initiatives of the government,” he told the Commonwealth delegation.

The VP further opined that the federal government is “determined to transform the country’s demographic bulge into demographic dividends,” while assuring that the Tinubu administration would harness the resources of its young population to build a more prosperous and progressive country.

“Nigeria is ready for business after being blessed with a pro-business leader who rose from the business ecosystem and has shown commitment to supporting the growth of businesses.

“The administration is ready to create an enabling environment for both indigenous and foreign businesses to grow.

“By 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world, and only recently, an investment bank projected that by 2075, Nigeria’s economy will be the third largest in the world.

“It shows that the trajectory of global growth is facing Africa, and Nigeria will make or mar that transition. So, the future belongs to Africa. If Nigeria works, Africa works.

“You have come to Nigeria at the right time, a time when a pro-business government is at the helm of affairs in the country and we are ready for business,” Shettima boasted.

An unspecified number of people have been reported injured following a clash between supporters of Zambia’s ruling party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), and main opposition party, the Patriotic Front (PF), during a court session at the Lusaka High Court on Wednesday.

Reports say the protest was sparked following a petition filed by a Lusaka-based youth activist, Michelo Chizombe, who urged the Constitutional Court to declare former President Edgar Lungu ineligible for future elections.

It was gathered that during the court proceedings, a group of protesters suspected to be University of Zambia students, arrived the premises of High Court wearing black T-shirts and chanting ‘No third term! No to corruption!’

Tension reportedly arose when a popular PF member, Peter Kashala, also known as Peter ‘ma chain’, was detained by police for allegedly assaulting a female individual who claimed to be a student, which elicited anger among other students present.

One Titus Musonda Chisha, said to be a student at UNZA, who spoke with journalists, cautioned that political cadres should refrain from involvement in matters of sensitive national importance.

“For me, the scenario that has evolved here is that issues that concern national interest, like this one, I do not expect cadres to be here fighting students.

“We are coming from a university where as students, we are concerned with such issues and we do not expect cadres to come to a place like this without any understanding.

“They are fighting students because they do not understand what is happening here, that is why they are causing commotion. I can confirm that one of our students was beaten by cadres.

“What we are doing is sending a message to politicians that when we are having such cases, please do not bring cadres here, bring people that understand such issues,” Chisha said.