“Poverty is not just lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being,” President Buhari quoted the distinguished Economist Amartya Sen.
Sunday, May 29th 2016 made it one year since Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In view of this, it was mandatory for him to give the state of the nation address, informing Nigerians on the progress he has made since he was elected president.
To mark this event, President Buhari addressed the nation from 7:00 am to about 7:45am. While delivering his Democracy Day speech, he talked about the several issues affecting the economy and the attacks by the Niger Delta Avengers on oil facilities. Here are nine important things Nigerians should take note of.
- Failed campaign promises
During President Buhari’s campaign he made several promises to include the creation of about 3,000,000 jobs. And in the past one year, not only is this yet to happen, but the population of unemployed youth in Nigeria has increased by about one million persons.
“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.”
- State of Nigeria’s economy
Since Buhari assumed office, the economy is yet to show significant improvement and is more or less on the verge of total collapse. This has been attributed to the 70 percent fall in global oil prices, China’s economic slowdown and the 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.”
- Fight against Boko Haram
Nigeria has been battling with insecurity since 2010 due to attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group. But with the help of the Nigerian army, the attacks of the sect seem to be under control as the Nigerian army has been able to recapture villages taken over by Boko Haram.
“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 neighbors 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.”
- Devaluation of the naira
Several experts have called on President Buhari to devalue the naira in order to save it from depreciating further but he has been adamant about it. He went ahead to say that he would only devalue the naira if anyone convinces him that it was right for the country.
“We resolved to keep the naira steady, as in the past, devaluation had done dreadful harm to the Nigerian economy. Furthermore, i support 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 affect the naira and the economy. But we cannot get away from the fact that a strong currency is predicated on a strong economy. And a strong economy pre-supposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. The measures we must take, may lead to hardships.”
- Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
As part of his speech, President Buhari also told Nigerians about the steps he has taken so far in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“An important first step has been to get our housekeeping right. So we have reduced the extravagant spending of the past. We started boldly with the treasury single account, stopping the leakages in public expenditure.”
“We then identified forty-three thousand ghost workers through the integrated payroll and personal information system. That represents pay packets totaling N4.2 billion stolen every month. In addition, we will save twenty-three billion per annum from official travelling and sitting allowances alone.”
- Stolen assets
The president said that he is working on recovering all stolen assets back to the country. He further said that the Ministry of Information would publish the full details and status of the recovery.
“The processes of recovery can be tedious and time consuming, but today I can confirm that thus far: significant amount of assets have been recovered. A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery. “
“Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the ministry of information and updated periodically. When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed.”
- Niger Delta
Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta region has been going through series of attacks from the Niger Delta Avengers who have blown up about three facilities in less than a month. This comes at a time when the country is working on cleaning up the Ogoni land due to oil spillage.
“On the Niger Delta, we are committed to implementing the United Nations environment programme report and are advancing clean-up operations. I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the delta communities. Re-engineering the amnesty programmes is an example of this. The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems. If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice.”
- Diversification of the economy
In a bid to save the economy which is suffering from the fall in oil prices, the current administration is looking at other sectors in the economy and making it more viable to investors.
“The economic misfortune we are experiencing in the shape of very low oil prices has provided us with an opportunity to restructure our economy and diversify. We are in the process of promoting agriculture, livestock, exploiting our solid mineral resources and expanding our industrial and manufacturing base. That way, we will import less and make the social investments necessary to allow us to produce a large and skilled workforce.”
“Special intervention funds through the bank of agriculture will provide targeted support. Concerns remain about rising cost of foods such as maize, rice, millet, beans and garri. Farmers tell me that they are worried about the cost of fertilizers, pesticides and the absence of extension services. The federal and state governments are on the same page in tackling these hurdles in our efforts at increased food production and ultimately food security.”
- Launch of Social protection programme
The president used his Democracy Day address to launch the social protection programme. He also said that 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 1 million vulnerable beneficiaries, and complement the enterprise programme – which will target up to 1 million market women; four hundred and sixty thousand artisans; and two hundred thousand agricultural workers, nationwide. 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.”
Click the video below to watch President Buhari delivering his Democracy day speech after one year in office:
