With Buhari’s Courageous Leadership, Nigeria Will Great – Lai Mohammed
Nigerians, who are satisfied together with his performance, especially within the cardinal areas of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and revamping the economy, overwhelmingly re-elected the President in 2019,” the federal government’s spokesman said.
The Minister of data and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday, took a holistic assessment of the Buhari administration within the last one year and concluded that President Muhammadu Buhari had been providing bold and courageous leadership which the country “is marching surely and steadily to hitch the comity of great nations.”
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fired back, saying that the five-year administration of President Buhari and therefore the All Progress Congress (APC) had taken Nigeria 60 years backward.
On an equivalent day, the President in a piece of writing published in Newsweek magazine on post-Coronavirus Africa, stated that the renewed infrastructural development in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan regions of Africa had positioned it to be the new global manufacturing hub within the post COVID-19 era.
Lai Mohammed spoke in Abuja at a news conference to mark the primary anniversary (second term) of the Buhari administration.
The minister said though the President came to power on ‘change’ mantra, but that change was never easy and therefore the birth of a replacement nation comes with pain.
“With the bold and courageous leadership provided by the President, Nigeria is marching surely and steadily to hitch the comity of great nations. Change isn’t easy, and therefore the birth of a replacement nation comes with pain.
“We thank Nigerians for his or her support and perseverance, and hereby reassure them of the administration’s unrelenting commitment to creating life more meaningful for the citizenry.
“President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on the strength of his promise of change.
Nigerians, who are satisfied together with his performance, especially within the cardinal areas of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and revamping the economy, overwhelmingly re-elected the President in 2019,” the federal government’s spokesman said.
In his message, “1st Anniversary (2nd term) of Buhari Administration: A Year of Momentous Change,” the minister added that one year later, the President was taking Nigeria to the “next Level of irreversible change for the better” which the intractable power problem was finally being tackled during a way that might end poor power supply that had stunted Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
According to him, “The days of unbridled massive importation of food are coming to an end, as Nigeria moves to become self-sufficient in major staples, especially rice because of the supply of the many platforms and improved welfare, the Nigerian military lives up to the billing in tackling insurgency.”
Mohammed said because the President begins his second year of the second and last tenure, the stage was set for the implementation of the best agricultural revolution within the history of Nigeria.
“The unprecedented approval by the Buhari administration to inject $1.2 billion in-kind loan into the agriculture sector through the government-to-government bilateral loan from Brazil, with support from Deutsche Bank and therefore the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of credit of the Islamic Development Bank, will revolutionise our agriculture at scale,” he explained.
On power supply, the Minister of data said that top on the list was power, or electricity, saying it might be an “understatement” to mention that inadequate power supply, hallmarked by regular blackouts, had stifled Nigeria’s economic development.
He claimed that it had been perhaps the only most formidable obstacle to the country’s economic development; but added that following an agreement with German company Siemens in July 2019 to spice up power supply in Nigeria, the stage was set for the perennial power problem to become a thing of the past.
He added, “Under the three-phase agreement, Nigerians will enjoy 7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by the top of 2021 (phase 1), 11,000 megawatts by the top of 2023 (phase 2) and 25,000 megawatts within the third phase.
“To put things in perspective, Nigeria’s current power generation capacity is quite 13,000 megawatts, but only a mean of three ,400 megawatts, reliably reach consumers.
Explaining what the administration had done to spice up infrastructure development within the past years, the Minister further said the administration had began a huge infrastructural renewal, the sort of which the country had not witnessed since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule out 1999.
He gave samples of the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Expressway, the Owerri Interchange, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway, and therefore the commencement of road repairs in 92 locations across 24 states by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).
The minister further claimed that the fight against corruption, which he described as a “cardinal programme of the administration,” had continued unabated during the amount under review, saying the leading anti-corruption agencies had been unrelenting in facing down the canker worm of corruption.
We’re Poised to Upstage Asia in Manufacturing, Post-Covid-19, Boasts President
Meanwhile, President Buhari yesterday stated that the renewed infrastructural development in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan regions of Africa had positioned it to be the new global manufacturing hub within the post COVID-19 era.
In a piece of writing he contributed to Newsweek magazine on post-Coronavirus Africa, the President said Nigeria had established the primary private petroleum refinery , which he described together of the most important within the world, and thanked foreign countries that repatriated stolen funds to Nigeria for the rapid infrastructural provisions.
He said the story was an equivalent with other African countries, describing sub-Sahara Africa as a brighter destination than Asia, North America and Europe in terms of the foreign direct investment inflow to the gross domestic product (GDP).
Buhari also noted that the position of Africa wasn’t to contest with any major power or paly politics but merely to present the chance to contribute her own quota in solving global problems, especially with the youthful population of African countries.
He said as bright as that information looked, what was brighter was that Africa, which he described because the brightest manufacturing location, wasn’t curious about geo-political competition.
He described Africa as “an opportunity,” with no threat to anyone, assuring that in future, institutions like African armies or continental airline would never be created.
He argued that the continent’s drive was to grow its manufacturing prowess and to not showcase any strength but rather poised to position it as partner ongoing.
$1 billion Stolen from Nigeria under a Junta within the 1990s
President Buhari also disclosed in his article that on the brink of $1 billion was stolen from Nigeria “under a previous, undemocratic junta within the 1990s”.
Although Buhari didn’t mention the name lately General Sani Sani Abacha directly, it had been clear that he was pertaining to the dictator who presided over the state between 1993 and 1998.
The Nigerian leader thanked countries that had returned the looted funds to Nigeria.
PDP: Buhari, APC Have Set Nigeria 60 Years Backward
The opposition PDP yesterday said its review of the five-year administration of President Buhari and therefore the ruling APC showed that that they had taken Nigeria 60 years backward.
The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja, added that in line with the assessments of majority of Nigerians, “Our party views the last five years of Buhari administration as wasteful and will at the simplest be described because the season of the locusts.”
The PDP lamented that the Buhari-led APC government had turned the state into a wasteland, devastated her economy, shattered the national dreams, crushed the hope of citizens and set the country backward.
The PDP further stated that the APC administration had reversed all the gains achieved by the PDP that May 29 was always celebrated and left the country dejected and despondent.
According to the PDP, “Under President Buhari, May 29 has become each day of grieving for Nigerians; each day for commemoration of failed promises, reversal of gains achieved by past leaders and retrogression in our body polity as a nation.
“This administration has failed woefully in its three major governance planks of provision of security, economic recovery and fight against corruption.”
The PDP said that within the last five years, the APC administration had done nothing but drive the state along the precipices; reneged on all its campaign promises, ruined the productive sector, frustrated the farmers, manufacturers and little scale entrepreneurs, devalued the Naira, wrecked employment opportunities for the youth, turned the once prosperous nation into the poverty capital of the planet, while accumulating huge foreign debts for this and future generation.
Under five years, it claimed, “President Buhari has borrowed from every corner of the planet. These include external borrowing of $10.72 billion (N4.1 trillion) in 2015; $11.41 billion (N4.4 trillion) in 2016; $18.91 billion (N7.3 trillion) in 2017; $25.27 billion (N9.8 trillion) in 2018; $27.68 billion (N10.7 trillion) in 2019; also as 2020 loans of $3.4 billion (N1.3 trillion) from IMF; $4.4 million (N1.594 billion) internal borrowing; $22.7 billion (N8.8 trillion) external loan and therefore the recently yet to be approved $5.513 billion (N2.1 trillion) waiting before the National Assembly.”
According to the PDP, “Under the APC administration, insurgents, marauders and bandits, who are pushed to the fringes under the PDP, have resurged and are now having field day ravaging communities and killing our compatriots while government continue in its hypocrisy and empty condolence messages.”
The party said that it had been distressing that “instead of heeding wise counsel to simply accept failure and avoid making false performance claims, the Buhari Presidency just yesterday, released an inventory of recycled fictitious achievements, including very insensitive claim of getting routed out bandits; whilst marauders were pillaging communities and killing our compatriots in Sokoto and in other states, particularly within the Northwest.”
Ologbondiyan said, “Our party once more asks President Buhari to awaken to the truth, accept failure and seek help since it’s become clear that his administration, as presently constituted, has devastated our nation and is leading us on a journey to nowhere.”
Secondus Appraises APC Years in Office
The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has described the five years’ administration of President Buhari and therefore the ruling APC, as a road Nigeria shouldn’t have passed.
Prince Secondus said during a statement appraising the five years of President Buhari and therefore the APC he personally signed titled “Five years of Buhari- The Road that ought to not are followed” that within the last five years, all negative indexes in our socio-political and economic life as a nation were activated.
He said that the last five years are regrettable years of anguish to the people thanks to the glaring incompetence and incapacity to deliver good governance.
Secondus said: “All gains after independence, the war also because the era the PDP successfully midwifed the nation’s democratic evolution up to the purpose of successfully seeing an opposition win and transit into power are destroyed. This happened at a time small nations like Ghana witnessed astronomic growth altogether spheres.”
He said that “In 2015 the worldwide international community stood in salute for Nigeria for the good feat recorded in area of democracy but instead of progress from it, the state under the watch of APC has continued to travel in retrogression.
“Our general elections are anything but fair, with security agencies and therefore the Election body abandoning their legitimate responsibilities of neutrality and fairness to being visibly partners of the ruling government”.
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