The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that the rate of extreme poverty in Nigeria keeps him awake at nights.

He made the disclosure while lamenting over the high rate of poverty in the country.

Osinbajo stated this during a dinner and interactive session with faculty members of the Harvard Business School, HBS, on Tuesday, in Lagos.

He said, “I think what keeps me up at night has to do with extreme poverty; the issue is that the largest number of those who vote for us are the very poor.

“The promises that government makes to them is that their lives will be better and obviously they are looking at their lives being better in the shortest possible time.

“I will like to see Nigeria being an industrialised nation in the next 10 years; a very strong middle class and most people living above poverty line.

“If you are going to do business anywhere in Africa, it has to be Nigeria.

“This is where you have the energy; you have the drive.

“We are already seeing that kind of activity; business people will always be driven by profit.

“Talent will always go in the direction where it is best rewarded; one can’t afford to be sentimental about that.

“As people see that the environment is getting better for business, they will come back; the opportunities for making huge profits are here.

“Practically everything we are doing in to ensure that there is an environment for business to thrive. People are leaving but people are coming back.’’