Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, January 1, 2018 in made a national speech to citizens of Nigeria.
Check below are the 10 main points made by President Muhammadu Buhari in his national broadcast to Nigerians Monday morning.
1.
President Muhammadu Buhari this morning unfolded his government’s plan
for a comprehensive rollout and investments in roads, rail and power
infrastructure in the country.
2. He equally vowed to ensure that
oil marketers who have subjected Nigerians to harrowing experiences
during the Christmas and New Year celebrations by hoarding and diverting
fuel would not go unpunished.
3. The president who made the
remarks in his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians, said he was saddened
that many Nigerians could not derive desirable happiness during the
Yuletide season as a result of the avoidable fuel shortages.
4.
According to him, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing was leading
the country’s infrastructure revolution with a view to achieving global
economic advancement through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan
(ERGP), adding that in pursuit of the agriculture revolution by his
government, importation of rice will end this year.
5. He pointed out that the Lagos-Calabar coastal line would also link Ore in Ondo State with a number of South-south towns.
“My
address to fellow Nigerians this morning is devoted mainly to informing
you about the intense efforts this administration is putting to address
our country’s huge infrastructure deficit.
4. On road
infrastructure, the president who disclosed that Federal Road
Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had been reconstituted and ordered to carry
out rapid road upgrade within 12 weeks in all the six geopolitical
zones, stated that the recent N100 billion raised through Sukuk bond
would address 25 major highways with N16.67 billion earmarked for use in
each geopolitical zone.
5. While disclosing that power
transmission had been ramped up to 7,000 megawatts (MW), he said for the
first time on December 8, 2017, the country generated 5,155MW of
electricity and proceeded to highlight other achievements in the power
sector.
6. The president also said that the massive public works
currently being spearheaded by his government would lead to the nation’s
recovery and simultaneously create millions of jobs, adding that
government was slowly stabilising the economy through sustainable
policies and programmes captured in the economic recovery plan.
7.
He Appealed to “enterprising Nigerians” with useful ideas to get
involved in job creation, Buhari noted that advanced countries were
built through the involvement of enterprising persons.
8. On the
fuel shortages experienced during the Christmas and New Year holidays,
Buhari said the action of oil marketers that created hardship for
Nigerians was unacceptable.
9. Speaking on the agitation for
restructuring, Buhari said Nigeria’s problems border mainly on processes
and not structure as being agitated, disclosing, however, that the
government was examining the high cost of governance with a view to
improving governance.
10. As the 2019 electioneering period draws
nearer, Buhari counselled politicians to avoid exploiting ethnicity and
religion, cautioning that such attitude must be avoided in order to
promote harmony.
He also challenged other parts of the country to
emulate the South-west which he said had successfully internalised
religion and politics.
“In this respect, the rest of Nigeria
could learn from the South-western states that have successfully
internalised religion, ethnicity and politics.
“Political
discourse should be conducted with civility, decorum and in a
constitutional manner. We all have a collective responsibility to
strengthen our democracy and entrench the rule of law.
“We should
draw encouragement from the series of bye-elections conducted by INEC
last year which were generally violence free and their outcomes adjudged
to be free and fair,” he said.
10. He also said short-term
measures had been evolved to combat kidnapping through what he described
as tighter police methods with prescribed severe penalties for
kidnappers, adding that the government was effectively engaging Niger
Delta leaders with a view to addressing the challenges of the region
including the Ogoni clean.