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Nine Key Milestones In President Buhari's First Year By Garba Shehu. by Nobody: 9:22pm On May 28, 2016 |
Twelve months ago, President Muhammadu
Buhari was sworn in as the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He came to power following the decisive
victory of his party, the All Progressives
Congress, APC over the ruling People’s
Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate, Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The victory ended
the 16-year reign of the PDP.
President Buhari campaigned on a promise to
fight Boko Haram terrorism and secure the
whoe country, fight corruption and develop the
economy to the point that it creates jobs for
the teeming unemployed.
The campaign message caught on very well
with most Nigerians, against the desperate
efforts of the Jonathan administration which
deployed incumbency as tool for its own
campaign. They literally threw the kitchen at
candidate Buhari. The government media were
used against the opponent. The private media
sold their outlets to a free-spending
government pouring out venom, hate speech,
libel and defamation. The public treasury was
personalized and its content poured into a
campaign that shared out money for weapons
purchase to fight Boko Haram terrorism into
the pockets of party leaders and their
campaign staff. The Army which served as the
glue that held the country as one through the
years was compromised to such extent that
they claimed not to be aware that a former
General in the Head of State, Muhammadu
Buhari had a secondary school certificate. Of
course the certificate resurfaced shortly after
he won the election.
President Buhari came to office amidst
massive hope and expectation at home and
abroad, that here at last was a leader who
would stop the slide and lead Nigeria to
progress, development and the realization of
her destiny. The mood all over Nigeria, the
continent and the world at the time he took
over was euphoric.
In line with the promises made, Nigeria under
Muhammadu Buhari has begun to show that it
will be a radically different country than one
the world had become used to. Here is a proof
of that:
Promise of Transparency and Accountability
A promise kept by the President is of a
government that not only preached but also
practiced transparency and accountability. The
President and the Vice President made public
their assets as declared before they took office
on May 29th.
For the first time in the annals of our
Executive-Legislative relations, this country
had all ministers nominated screened and
passed without any casualty. What is
important is that not a single incident was
reported involving exchange of money in
bribery of parliamentarians. The President’s
first budget, the 2016 appropriations bill was
passed, even though after some delays,
without the usual bribery allegations that
attended the passage of budgets. The Senate
and the House under their current leadership
must themselves be proud of this happening
at this time.
While still on the budget, the President must
take credit for the exposure of a particular
kind of fraud, the padding of budget, itself a
known and ongoing practice until the whistle
was blown by diligent ministers and
parliamentarians. For once, the country has a
budget, the 2016 appropriations bill that is rid
of added billions ending up in the pockets of
officials. By putting these changes in place,
the government has established a model for
transparency in public expenditure.
Implementing the Treasury Single Account,TSA
The President has been trying to right the
many wrongs things he inherited, especially in
terms of securing government revenues which
leaked or were out rightly diverted to private
accounts.
President Buhari didn't invent the TSA. What
he did is to bring political will to bear on its
implementation.
By this, government has a snapshot at any
given time of incoming revenue and
expenditure following the centralization of
government accounts domiciled at the Central
Bank.
At the last count, the President said he had
saved the country money in excess of three
trillion Naira which would otherwise have been
wasted or shared out to officials at the end of
the financial year.
Minimum Government
The President kept his promise to reduce
superfluity in government administration by
cutting down on the number of ministers,
ministries and government departments. The
delay in the coming of ministers was first to
reduce the number of ministries, and then set
a new set of ground rules to stop the theft of
government resources through systemic
leakages. Boards of directors will come only
when the President is satisfied that agencies
of government are brought in line with existing
ministries structure and that a new foundation
is laid, in all cases, to replace the rotten past
that allowed a free-for-all when it came to
dealing with public assets.
Fighting Insecurity/Stabilizing the State
The first priority of this government as
repeatedly mentioned by the President, is
security. "You must secure the country before
you can manage it well”, is a classic
statement the President has continued to
repeat. Where we stand on this today is best
captured by the country’s Attorney-General
and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in
saying that “the capacity of Boko Haram to
hold territory has totally been decimated. Our
focus now is on dealing with the remnants of
their forces and re-focusing on the
unfortunate humanitarian challenge caused by
their activities.” This was achieved following
the change in the leadership of the armed
forces, the movement of the command and
control centre to Maiduguri and realization of
how much can be achieved with greater
international cooperation. In this respect, the
coming together of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon,
Chad and Benin in the Muti-National Joint
Task Force under a centralized command had
been helpful in forging a common, regional
response to the Boko Haran threat.
War against corruption/ending impunity
Nigeria is country of paradoxes, one in which
the VIP steals an elephant and runs away with
it but the poor man stealing a goat goes to
jail for up to 30 years.
The President has severally expressed his
frustrations over the fact that known thieves,
419 kingpins fly over our heads in private jets
and run around in Jaguars and Rolls Royces,
as we wait endlessly for the law to take its
course. As military Head of State, what he did
was to lock them up until they proved their
innocence. As an elected President, he has
sworn to uphold the constitution which
guarantees citizen rights.
Things are changing with impunity in the
country. For the first time, VIP suspects are
being asked questions by the investigating
agencies and are being charged to court.
Many who would have snubbed the bailiff and
go scot-free are now standing before
undergoing trials. Would anyone have thought
that a Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs,
pretenders to thrones, the children of “natural
rulers” including “toy” Sultans, Kings, Emirs
and Chiefs will be brought to trial and kept in
prisons? Ending impunity is one of key
milestones of this administration.
The country today basks in the aura of a
major battle against corruption and the
impunity that goes with that and world is
supporting the President.
In one year of his administration, a miracle
has happened, which is that there has been
the total absence of multi-billion naira
corruption scandals that had characterized the
previous administrations.
Global Diplomacy
In one year, the President has successfully
reset the relationship between this country
and her immediate neighbors and with our
lost friends, both far and near. The West, Far
East and Middle-East countries as well as our
neighbors who walked away from this country
on account of the arrogance of our past
leaders, corruption and the abuse of human
rights have all come back to us.
Over the past one year in which the President
traveled to many countries, he has succeeded
in convincing the world that Nigeria is now
under a responsible management with a
government that is inviting of prospective
investors. As a result of his travels, Nigeria’s
image has improved and the country is
occupying a preeminent place in the comity of
nations.
President Buhari has indeed been a revelation
to the world. In addition to improving the
standing of the country, his personal integrity
has given him the best ever international
attention by any past President of this
country. The trips have opened doors that
were shut against Nigeria, doors that bring
security cooperation, and eventually trade and
economic benefits to the country.
Fuel Import Liberalization
The fuel subsidy issue is a well-known cause
of trouble in this country. Every government in
the past that tried to remove it got tested in
its political will and dropped it like a hot
metal. There is nothing in this country that is
as politically unpopular.
Yet, even those who vocally supported it knew
that it wasn't working for the ordinary
citizens. The secret service surveyed the price
regime of N86 per liter and reported to
government five months ago that the price
prevailed only in Lagos and Abuja with the
rest of the country paying higher. Petrol
subsidies served as a scam to line the pockets
of officials and cronies in business.
Acting in the best national interest, the
President took the very brave action of
liberalizing the import of PMS products by
first removing subsidy from the budget and
then opening the door for marketers to bring
the products to sell at a profit, saving the
country trillions of naira in fraudulent subsidy
payments.
Due mainly to the trust they reposed in him,
Nigerians have accepted this change in the
belief that the president means for them.
Major Infrastructure Products/Diversification
The President’s campaign for the
diversification of the economy, away from
over-dependence on oil is already setting the
tone for the transformation of the economy
into an agaric and industrial one.
The President has equally fared well in his
efforts to attract investment into Nigeria
following his trips to some of those countries.
Discussions are ongoing with a number of
them with rich foreign reserves that have
indicated a willingness to pour foreign capital
to develop the economy and create jobs here.
From the sometimes zero capital allocation of
the past, his budget this year has 30% of its
content devoted to capital projects. After
many years of delay, there will be a serious
attempt to improve roads and rail transport as
well as power projects. His administration is
determined to improve the country's
infrastructure landscape in a short period of
time.
Social welfare program
President Buhari’s administration is the first
in Nigeria’s history to take a major step
towards the institution of a social welfare
scheme as enunciated by the APC.
One million of country’s poorest of the poor
will get a monthly supplement of N5,000.00.
Another one million will get start-up loans
from the Bank of Industry. Five hundred
thousand graduates will get teaching jobs and
375,000 others without degrees will receive
training to acquire skills. Under this year’s
budget, there is money for scholarship for
medical, science and technology students in
tertiary institutions and a meal-a-day for five
million children in primary school. For the first
time, the ordinary citizen can claim that he/
she has a budget of his/her own.
In one year in office, the Buhari administration
has taken major steps to secure the country
and curtailing corruption while attracting
investors with a view to promoting industrial
growth and job creation. Although Nigeria is
confronted with many problems that don’t
have quick fixes, the administration has
revealed a fine talent for finding lasting
solutions to those kinds problems that had
defied solution under the past governments.
Given the tenacity with which he fought the
Boko Haram terrorism and corruption, the
economy, which is still work in progress, will
receive a lot more attention going forward.
The rate of job creation and manufacturing
should improve from the third quarter of the
year when the implementation of the budget
gathers steam. Happily, voters are still hopeful
that President Buhari will produce the cure for
the ills of the economy.
While many still believe that it is too early to
assess the overall performance of the
administration, the sentiment that prevails
across the country is that Nigeria will improve
a lot under his leadership; that he has a good
vision and he is committed to Nigeria and
Nigerian people.
Early enthusiasm and high expectations have
their challenges especially in times of low
earnings from exports. Given this situation,
delivery will take time but the promised
change will not fail to come.
In one year in office, the President has fused
his own ideas with APC’s program which is
strong on social welfare. His government has
brought hope and respect to Nigeria. He has
made a strong start on security, war against
corruption, foreign policy although the sticking
issue remains the limping economy he
inherited which is hamstrung by corruption
and the past failure to diversity.
The President is tirelessly working for Nigeria
and will continue to do so with hard work,
diligence and honestly for the period he is in
office.
By Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
Media and Publicity |
Re: Nine Key Milestones In President Buhari's First Year By Garba Shehu. by Luckylife(m): 9:49pm On May 28, 2016 |
Ok can we access it from the ordinary citizens views. |
Re: Nine Key Milestones In President Buhari's First Year By Garba Shehu. by idealsico(m): 9:52pm On May 28, 2016 |
Achivements indeed. Is this all you can offer Nigeria? 2019 appears too far. |
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