My compatriots,
It is one year today since our
administration came into office.
It has been a year of triumph,
consolidation, pains and
achievements. By age, instinct
and experience, my preference
is to look forward, to prepare
for the challenges that lie
ahead and rededicate the
administration to the task of
fixing Nigeria. But I believe we
can also learn from the
obstacles we have overcome
and the progress we made thus
far, to help strengthen the
plans that we have in place to
put Nigeria back on the path of
progress.
We affirm our belief in
democracy as the form of
government that best assures
the active participation and
actual benefit of the people.
Despite the many years of
hardship and disappointment
the people of this nation have
proved inherently good,
industrious tolerant, patient
and generous.
The past years have witnessed
huge flows of oil revenues.
From 2010 average oil prices
were $100 per barrel. But
economic and security
conditions were deteriorating.
We campaigned and won the
election on the platform of
restoring security, tackling
corruption and restructuring
the economy. On our arrival,
the oil price had collapsed to as
low as $30 per barrel and we
found nothing had been kept
for the rainy day. Oil prices
have been declining since 2014
but due to the neglect of the
past, the country was not
equipped to halt the economy
from declining.
The infrastructure, notably
rail, power, roads were in a
decrepit state. All the four
refineries were in a state of disrepair, the
pipelines and depots neglected.
Huge debts owed to contractors and
suppliers had accumulated. Twenty-seven
states could not pay salaries for months. In
the north-east, Boko Haram had captured
14 local governments, driven the local
authorities out, hoisted their flags.
Elsewhere, insecurity was palpable;
corruption and impunity were the order of
the day. In short, we inherited a state near
collapse.
On the economic front, all oil dependent
countries, Nigeria included, have been
struggling since the drop in prices. Many
oil rich states have had to take tough
decisions similar to what we are doing. The
world, Nigeria included has been dealing
with the effects of three significant and
simultaneous global shocks starting in
2014:
1. A 70% drop in oil prices.
2. Global growth slowdown.
3. Normalization of monetary policy by the
United States federal reserve.
Our problems as a government are like that
of a farmer who in a good season harvests
ten bags of produce. The proceeds enable
him to get by for rest of the year. However,
this year he could only manage 3 bags from
his farm. He must now think of other ways
to make ends meet.
From day one, we purposely set out to
correct our condition, to change Nigeria.
We reinforced and galvanized our armed
forces with new leadership and resources.
We marshaled our neighbours in a joint
task force to tackle and defeat Boko Haram.
By the end of December 2015, all but
pockets and remnants had been routed by
our gallant armed forces. Our immediate
focus is for a gradual and safe return of
internally displaced persons in safety and
dignity and for the resumption of normalcy
in the lives of people living in these areas.
EFCC was given the freedom to pursue
corrupt officials and the judiciary was
alerted on what Nigerians expect of them in
the fight against corruption. On the
economy, in particular foreign exchange
and fuel shortages, our plan is to save
foreign exchange by fast tracking repair of
the refineries and producing most of our
fuel requirements at home. And by growing
more food in Nigeria, mainly rice, wheat
and sugar we will save billions of dollars in
foreign exchange and drastically reduce our
food import bill.
We resolved to keep the Naira steady, as in
the past, devaluation had done dreadful
harm to the Nigerian economy.
Furthermore, I supported the monetary
authority’s decision to ensure alignment
between monetary policy and fiscal policy.
We shall keep a close look on how the
recent measures affects the Nation
... .....In this regard, Five Hundred Billion
Naira has been appropriated in the
2016 budget for social intervention
programmes in five key areas. We are
committed to providing job creation
opportunities for five hundred
thousand teachers and one hundred
thousand artisans across the nation.
5.5 million children are to be provided
with nutritious meals through our
school feeding programme to improve
learning outcomes, as well as
enrolment and completion rates. The
conditional cash transfer scheme will
provide financial support for up to one
million vulnerable beneficiaries, and
complement the enterprise programme
– which will target up to one million
market women; four hundred and sixty
thousand artisans; and two hundred
thousand agricultural workers,
nationwide. Finally, through the
education grant scheme, we will
encourage students studying sciences,
technology, engineering and maths,
and lay a foundation for human
capital development for the next
generation.
I would like to pay a special tribute to
our gallant men and women of the
armed forces who are in harm’s way
so that the rest of us can live and go
about our business in safety. Their
work is almost done. The nation owes
them a debt of gratitude.
Abroad, we want to assure our
neighbours, friends and development
partners that Nigeria is firmly
committed to democratic principles.
We are ready partners in combating
terrorism, cyber crimes, control of
communicable diseases and protection
of the environment. Following on the
Paris Agreement, COP 21, we are fully
committed to halting and reversing
desertification. Elsewhere, we will
intensify efforts to tackle erosion,
ocean surge, flooding and oil spillage
which I referred to earlier by
implementing the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)
report.
We are grateful to the international
community notably France, the US, UK
and China for their quick response in
helping to tackle the recent Ebola
outbreak in our sub-region.
We also acknowledge the humanity
shown by the Italian and German
governments in the treatment of boat
people, many fleeing from our sub-
region because of lack of economic
opportunity. We thank all our partners
especially several countries in the EU.
We appreciate the valuable work that
the UN agencies, particularly UNICEF,
ICRC, the World Food Program have
been doing. We must also appreciate
the World Bank, the Gates Foundation,
the Global Fund and Educate A Child
of Qatar for the excellent work in our
health, education and other sectors.
Fellow citizens let me end on a happy
note. To the delight of all, two of the
abducted Chibok girls have regained
their freedom. During the last one
year, not a single day passed without
my agonizing about these girls. Our
efforts have centred around
negotiations to free them safely from
their mindless captors. We are still
pursuing that course. Their safety is of
paramount concern to me and I am
sure to most Nigerians. I am very
worried about the conditions those still
captured might be in.
Today I re-affirm our commitment to
rescuing our girls. We will never stop
until we bring them home safely. As I
said before, no girl should be put
through the brutality of forced
marriage and every Nigerian girl has
the right to an education and a life
choice.
I thank you and appeal to you to
continue supporting the government’s
efforts to fix Nigeria.
Comments
Post a Comment