Read Full Text of GEJ's remarks at the presentation of Handing-over notes GMB
13 minute read
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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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
.
20. Similarly,
we undertook innovative reforms for job creation and repositioned the
manufacturing, agriculture and housing sectors. Specifically, it
was observed that over the years, job creation did not keep pace with
economic growth. Thus unemployment, especially amongst the youth was
assuming alarming dimensions.
21. 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).
22. 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.
23. 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 N1.3 trillion on the importation of fish, rice and sugar alone.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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 sub
-
sector,
and will not only deliver Africa’s biggest industrial park, but all the
accompanying benefits to local industry and job creation.
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. 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.
39. 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.
40. 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
.
41. 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.
42. 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.
43. 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.
44. 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.
45. 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.
46. There
is no doubt that challenges still abound, but they are surmountable and
overwhelming national transformation remains realisable, with
continuity, commitment and consistency.
47. Nigeria
is blessed with citizens that will always remain faithful, firmly
committed to national unity, accelerated political, social and economic
development.
48. 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.
49. May God Almighty continue to bless our dear country, Nigeria.
50. I thank you all.
Never miss our updates again. Submit Your Email Here, to get them first for free. Remember to verify the Mail that will be sent to you. Follow us on Twitter @loadedcrew & like us on facebook @Loadedteam
Post a Comment