PROTOCOLS
1. I welcome you all to this occasion of the
formal presentation of the Hand-over notes
of my Administration to the in-coming
Administration of the President-Elect,
General Muhammadu Buhari.
1. This event and tomorrow’s inauguration of
a new administration are truly historic as it
is the first time in the history of our nation
that we are witnessing the democratic and
orderly transfer of power at the Federal
level from one political party to another.
1. The Hand-over notes which we now
present, contain the governance philosophy,
strategies, policies, programmes and
activities of my Administration for the
period – 2011-2015. Also to be found in the
notes are the objectives, targets and
implementation strategies, achievements
and challenges of our key policies,
schemes, initiatives as well as the status
of commitments and liabilities of the
various MDAs.
1. As we hand over the affairs of the nation,
it is appropriate to recall that at inception,
in May 2011, we committed ourselves to
consolidating national unity through
democratization and good governance. Our
assessment then, and our firm belief ever
since, is that the unity of Nigeria, the
security, well-being, greater freedoms and
opportunities for all citizens must remain
the primary objectives of government.
1. The Agenda for National Transformation
which we did our best to implement
consisted of clear and consistent
governance strategies, policies, plans,
programmes and projects, in all facets of
our national life. Emphasis was placed on
human and state security, democratization,
sound economic management, as well as
structural and institutional reforms.
1. Our foremost concern was the unity of
Nigeria.In keeping with that concern, we
engineered a process that began with a
review of issues outstanding from previous
Constitutional Conferences by the Belgore
Committee. After that, we widened political
consultations through a National Dialogue
that was orchestrated through the
Okurounmu Committee. These culminated
in the all-inclusive National Conference
which unanimously reaffirmed that Nigeria
must remain united and indivisible.
1. The Conference also made resolutions and
recommendations for serious constitutional,
political and governance reforms, which we
have forwarded to the National Assembly
for appropriate legislative action. It is our
hope that the incoming Government will
accord the Report of the National
Conference the very high priority that it
deserves, as a genuine expression of the
will of our people.
1. The recognition that the starting point for
good governance is the legitimacy of the
government itself informed our
commitment to promoting free and fair
elections.
1. It also motivated innovations in the
management and conduct of elections
which we undertook. Hopefully, in the
years ahead, those innovations will be
properly and fully implemented so that
Nigerians will be even more assured of the
integrity of the electoral system and the
legitimacy of any government that it
produces.
1. To strengthen the social contract between
the government and the governed, we
institutionalized the rule of law as well as
the independence of the legislature and the
judiciary. We also promoted group and
individual freedoms. As a result, there is
vast expansion in democratic, social and
economic space for all citizens.
11.Our nation and citizens faced many new
challenges over the past four years but the
greatest was the vastly increased menace of
Boko Haram with their mindless terror, mass
killings, utter ruthlessness, kidnapping of
innocent children and other unspeakable acts of
brutality.
1. We should all remember that Boko Haram’s
emergence predated our administration
going as far back as 2002. The group
however became extremely malignant with
the killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf
in July 2009.
1. It therefore became an urgent task for us
to effectively confront the great threat
Boko Haram posed to the security and
well-being of our people. To do so, we
overhauled and virtually reinvented our
security architecture to confront Boko
Haram and its insurgency. We re-organized
our security apparatus. We re-equipped and
fully motivated our forces.
1. Victory is now in sight and within our
reach. However, the cost in blood of
citizens and heroes; and the diversion of
national treasure from urgent needs for
development have been very high. While
more than 500 women and children have
been rescued from the clutches of Boko
Haram thus far by our security forces, it
remains my sincere hope and prayer that
our beloved daughters from Chibok will
soon be reunited with us.
1. I wish to thank the Nigerian people for
their resilience and patience. I also wish to
pay very special and personal tribute to all
the men and women of our valiant armed
forces and security agencies. Their
sacrifice and dedication have brought us
thus far.
1. While striving to overcome our national
security challenges, we still gave necessary
attention to economic development. Our
goal was to achieve long-term economic
growth and stability, improve the quality
and quantum of infrastructure and enhance
human capital development.
1. Our financial system reforms included the
Treasury Single Account [TSA] that unified
the structure of government accounts for
all MDAs and thereby brought order to
cash flow management; and Government
Integrated Financial Management
Information System [GIFMIS] was
introduced to plug leakages and waste of
resources. The Integrated Payroll and
Personnel Information System [IPPIS]
weeded out 60,450 ghost workers in 359
out of 425 MDAs, yielding N185.4 billion in
savings to the Federal government.
1. Improved Revenue Mobilization was
achieved through improvements in the laws
and compliance measures. In 2013 alone,
these measures resulted in a 69% rise in
Federal tax revenues from N2.8 trillion to
N4.8 trillion. Also, Waiver Policy and Trade
Facilitation were reformed to create a
more rational regime. Our emphasis shifted
to granting waivers to specific sectors
instead of individual companies and the
Sovereign Wealth Fund was established to
provide stabilization from external shocks,
provide funding for critical infrastructure
and savings for future generations.
1. Our Financial Sector reforms addressed the
issues of inefficiencies in the coordination
and monitoring of the financial system. Our
policies promoted transparency, better risk
management, new banking models and
payment systems. We established the
Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria
as a resolution mechanism for toxic
banking assets. We strengthened banking
supervision and enhanced public
confidence in Nigerian Banks.
1. To address this, my administration made
job creation a key consideration for all
programmes in the Transformation Agenda.
Emphasis was also shifted towards
empowering youths to become
entrepreneurs rather than job seekers,
through such initiatives as Youth Enterprise
with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN),
Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), the
SURE-P Technical Vocational Education
and Training Programme (TVET) and the
Youth Employment in Agriculture
Programme (YEAP).
1. Manufacturing in Nigeria faces many
challenges, including poor power supply,
high cost of input, high cost of doing
business, multiple taxation, poor
infrastructure and lack of synergy with the
labour market. To address these problems,
we launched several programmes and
initiatives including the National Industrial
Revolution Plan and a new National
Automobile Policy designed to boost
domestic car production and expand
existing capacity. Since then, five new
private vehicle assembly plants have been
established.
1. Agriculture is critical to national survival
and yet the sector was besieged with many
problems. By year 2010, Nigeria was the
second largest importer of food in the
world, spending about N 1.3 trillion on the
importation of fish, rice and sugar alone.
1. The reforms we introduced in agriculture
dramatically increased local production of
staple food and saved us vast amounts of
money that we would have spent on the
importation of food items.
1. To address the glaring inadequacy of
critical national infrastructure, we focused
on the Power Sector, Roads, Railways,
Aviation, Ports and Harbours as well as on
Water and Sanitation, Information and
Communication Technology.
1. My government introduced the Power
Sector Roadmap in 2010.Since then, we
have privatized the generation and
distribution aspects in a most transparent
process. Obstacles to the private sector
investments in power supply were removed
and we developed cost effective electricity
tariff to make the sector more attractive. It
remains our hope that the successor
companies to PHCN and also the private
sector will step forward with the necessary
investment to make the power reform
work.
1. The major challenge in the road sector in
Nigeria is the high cost of building roads
and it continues to rise. The other
challenge is the fact that because of
regular use, roads are one of the fastest
depreciating assets in developing countries.
1. To address this, Government has developed
the required legal and regulatory framework
and created opportunities for Private Public
Partnership (PPP) in road construction and
maintenance.
1. From Ore/Benin Road, Lagos/Ibadan
Expressway to the Kano/Maiduguri
dualisation projects, we made concerted
efforts to address age-long problems of
delays in construction, design defect,
neglect and ineffective maintenance. The
construction of the historic Second Niger
Bridge has also commenced, and on
completion, it will open new and far-
reaching opportunities for greater trade and
interaction among our people.
1. In the Aviation Sector, our government
developed a Master Plan to institutionalise
safety and security, and to develop
infrastructure at the airports and local
airlines. We embarked on the
reconstruction and rehabilitation of 22
airports nationwide. Construction work on
five new international terminals in Lagos,
Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu are
also on-going.
1. There has been a revolution in rail
transportation. We rehabilitated the old
narrow gauge network and ensured that it
has served our people steadily for three
years running with new coaches and
improved expanded services nationwide.
1. We are in the construction stages of a new
national network for standard gauge speed-
train services, with the new rail line
segment, from Abuja to Kaduna,
successfully completed. In addition, we
have initiated the process for the
construction of an ultramodern coastal rail
line that will run from Lagos to Calabar,
with a link to Onitsha.
1. We have also successfully completed the
dredging of River Niger, from Warri in Delta
State to Baro in Niger State, and completed
construction works for the Onitsha River
Port. Other River Ports at Baro, Lokoja and
Oguta, are at advanced construction
stages. Working with the states and
development partners, we have facilitated
the process towards the development of
two new deep sea ports at Lekki in Lagos,
and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom. We have also
implemented reforms to streamline the
clearing regime in existing ports, increasing
cargo turnover time and easing business for
all users.
1. In the oil and gas sector, our local content
policy has continued to empower Nigerian
companies, particularly in technical and
engineering projects. The Gas Revolution
Industrial Park in Delta State is
unprecedented in the subsector, and will
not only deliver Africa’s biggest industrial
park, but all the accompanying benefits to
local industry and job creation.
1. We recognized Human Capital as the most
important agent for transformational
development. Our reforms in this sector
focused on Health, Education and Social
Development and also on Women and
Youth Empowerment and Social Safety
Nets.
1. In the Health sector, the comprehensive
National Strategic Health Development Plan
(NSHDP) of 2011 laid the foundation for
widening access and improving the quality
of healthcare with lower infant mortality
rates and higher life expectancy for the
populace.Our effective curtailment of the
Ebola epidemic has continued to receive
worldwide acclaim as an example in prompt
and effective national disease
management. On our watch, guinea-worm
has been eradicated from Nigeria and we
are on the verge of wiping out polio
entirely.
1. In the Education sector, our objectives are
clear and precise. They emphasise
expansion of access and the upgrade of
quality. I am proud that we have widened
access by establishing 18 more Federal
Universities and other specialized
polytechnics. We strengthened TETFUND
and used it to boldly address the problems
of inadequate infrastructure in the existing
institutions.
1. I am particularly proud of our efforts with
regards to Early Childhood Education and
Out-of-School Children. We provided
modern hybrid Almajiri Education
Programme in the North, attended to
schooling needs of boys in the South-East
and ensured the construction of special
girls’ schools in 13 States of the Federation
to improve girl-child education. We
expanded opportunities for open and
distance learning and provided scholarships
at all levels to help improve access to
quality education for bright and promising
Nigerians.
1. We have promoted gender-mainstreaming
with commensurate priority and
opportunities for our womenfolk, beginning
with ensuring that not less than 30 per
cent of key Federal appointments go to
women. Other initiatives that we have
taken include: the National Gender Policy,
Establishment of Gender Units in Federal
MDAs, Women Empowerment Training
Programmes, Micro-Credit for Women,
Social Safety Net Programmes and the
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme.
1. My Administration has emphasized giving a
free hand to our Anti-corruption agencies
such as the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the
Independent Corrupt Practices Commission
(ICPC). We preferred that they mature into
strong institutions instead of being the
images, the hammer and the anvil of a
strong man. We must encourage them to
abide by the rule of law and due process
instead of resorting to dramatic or illegal
actions orchestrated for cheap applause.
1. Beyond the very impressive records of
enhanced convictions by statutory anti-
corruption agencies like the EFCC and
ICPC, our other strategy has been to
fashion economic policies that deliver
higher deterrence and frustrate
concealment. In this regard, the Bureau of
Public Procurement has played a central
role and impacted strongly on the fight
against corruption.
1. In Sports, we have improved our national
performance in team and individual events.
The disappointment of not qualifying to
defend our African Football Championship
was cushioned by a decent FIFA World Cup
appearance, an Under-17 World Cup win in
addition to other victories in other
international football tournaments and the
Paralympics. We have also encouraged
excellence in other sports, apart from
football, resulting in exceptional
performance in international sporting
events, especially in athletics.
1. Our foreign policy position remains strong.
In October 2013, Nigeria was elected as a
non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council for the second
time on our watch. Our country had only
served in that capacity thrice before 2011,
since independence in 1960. Our
Administration also played a leading role in
the resolution of security and political
challenges in our sub-region, particularly in
Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea-Bissau
and Burkina Faso.
1. In addition, we increased engagement with
Nigerians in the diaspora who contribute so
much in remittances to their fatherland.
Our Administration successfully encouraged
more of them to invest in Nigeria and
others to return home and join in the task
of nation-building.
1. In summary, Your Excellency, distinguished
ladies and gentlemen, our administration
has done its best to intervene robustly and
impact positively on key aspects of our
national life.
1. There is no doubt that challenges still
abound, but they are surmountable and
overwhelming national transformation
remains realisable, with continuity,
commitment and consistency.
1. Nigeria is blessed with citizens that will
always remain faithful, firmly committed to
national unity, accelerated political, social
and economic development.
1. As we hand over the reins of government, I
believe that our nation is secure, our
democracy is stable, and the future is
bright. Let us all work together, and with
greater resolve, continue to build a stronger
and more prosperous nation.
1. May God Almighty continue to bless our
dear country, Nigeria.

I wonder wat buhari wud be doing while all this speech wud be going onn