1st October is a day of celebration for us Nigerians. On this day, 56
years ago our people achieved the most important of all human desires –
freedom and independence. We should all therefore give thanks and pray
for our founding fathers without whose efforts and toil we would not
reap the bounties of today.
2. I know that uppermost in your
minds today is the economic crisis. The recession for many individuals
and families is real. For some It means not being able to pay school
fees, for others it’s not being able to afford the high cost of food
(rice and millet) or the high cost of local or international travel, and
for many of our young people the recession means joblessness, sometimes
after graduating from university or polytechnic.
3. I know how
difficult things are, and how rough business is. All my adult life I
have always earned a salary and I know what it is like when your salary
simply is not enough. In every part of our nation people are making
incredible sacrifices.
4. But let me say to all Nigerians today, I
ran for office four times to make the point that we can rule this
nation with honesty and transparency, that we can stop the stealing of
Nigeria’s resources so that the resources could be used to provide jobs
for our young people, security, infrastructure for commerce, education
and healthcare.
5. I ran for office because I know that good
government is the only way to ensure prosperity and abundance for all. I
remain resolutely committed to this objective.
6. I believe that this recession will not last.
7.
Temporary problems should not blind or divert us from the corrective
course this government has charted for our nation. We have identified
the country’s salient problems and we are working hard at lasting
solutions.
8. To re-cap what I have been saying since the
inception of this administration, our problems are security, corruption
and the economy, especially unemployment and the alarming level of
poverty.
9. On Security, we have made progress. Boko Haram was
defeated by last December – only resorting to cowardly attacks on soft
targets, killing innocent men, women and children.
10. Nigerians
should thank our gallant men of the Armed Forces and Police for rescuing
large areas of the country captured by insurgents. Now, residents in
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, as well as several neighbouring states
go about their daily business in relative safety. People can go to
mosques, churches, market places in reasonable safety.
11.
Commuters can travel between cities, towns and villages without fear.
Credit for this remarkable turn-round should go to our Armed Forces, the
Police, various sponsored and private vigilante groups, the local
traditional leaders. Security is a top to bottom concern and
responsibility.
12. Besides Boko Haram, we are confronting other
long-running security issues, namely herdsmen vs farmers, cattle
rustling, kidnappings. This Administration is firmly resolved to tackle
these challenges and to defeat them.
13. A new insurgency has
reared up its head in the shape of blowing up gas and oil pipelines by
groups of Niger Delta Militants. This Administration will not allow
these mindless groups to hold the country to ransom.
14. What
sense is there to damage a gas line as a result of which many towns in
the country including their own town or village is put in darkness as a
result? What logic is there in blowing up an export pipeline and as a
result income to your state and local governments and consequently their
ability to provide services to your own people is reduced?
15.
No group can unlawfully challenge the authority of the Federal
Government and succeed. Our Administration is fully sympathetic to the
plight of the good people of Niger Delta and we are in touch with the
State Governments and leaderships of the region. It is known that the
clean-up of the Ogoniland has started. Infrastructural projects financed
by the Federal Government and post amnesty programme financing will
continue.
16. We have however, continued to dialogue with all groups and leaders of thought in the region to bring lasting peace.
17.
Corruption is a cancer which must be fought with all the weapons at our
disposal. It corrodes the very fabric of government and destroys
society. Fighting corruption is Key, not only to restoring the moral
health of the nation, but also to freeing our enormous resources for
urgent socio-economic development.
18. In fighting corruption,
however, the government would adhere strictly by the rule of law. Not
for the first time I am appealing to the judiciary to join the fight
against corruption.
19. The Third Plank in this Administration’s
drive to CHANGE Nigeria is re-structuring the economy. Economies
behaviour is cyclical. All countries face ups and downs. Our own
recession has been brought about by a critical shortage of foreign
exchange. Oil price dropped from an average of hundred USD per barrel
over the last decade to an average of forty USD per barrel this year and
last.
20. Worse still, the damage perpetrated by Niger Delta
thugs on pipelines sometimes reduced Nigeria’s production to below One
million barrels per day against the normal two point two million barrels
per day. Consequently, the naira is at its weakest, but the situation
will stabilize.
21. But this is only temporary. Historically
about half our dollar export earnings go to importation of petroleum and
food products! Nothing was saved for the rainy days during the periods
of prosperity. We are now reaping the whirlwinds of corruption,
recklessness and impunity.
22. There are no easy solutions, but
there are solutions nonetheless and Government is pursuing them in
earnest. We are to repair our four refineries so that Nigeria can
produce most of our petrol requirements locally, pending the coming on
stream of new refineries. That way we will save ten billion USD yearly
in importing fuel.
23. At the same time, the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and the Central Bank have been mobilized to encourage local
production of rice, maize, sorghum, millet and soya beans. Our target is
to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in these staples by 2018.
24.
Already farmers in thirteen out of thirty six states are receiving
credit support through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers
Programme. Kebbi state alone this year is expected to produce one
million tonnes of locally grown rice, thanks to a favourable harvest
this year. As part of the 13 states, Lagos and Ogun are also starting
this programme. Rice alone for example costs Nigeria two billion USD to
import.
25. The country should be self-sufficient in basic
staples by 2019. Foreign exchange thus saved can go to industrial
revival requirements for retooling, essential raw materials and spare
parts. It is in recognition of the need to re-invigorate agriculture in
our rural communities that we are introducing the LIFE programme.
26.
Government recognises that irrigation is key to modern agriculture:
that is why the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources are
embarking on a huge programme of development of lakes, earth dams and
water harvesting schemes throughout the country to ensure that we are no
longer dependent on rain-fed agriculture for our food requirements.
27.
In addition, government is introducing Water Resources Bill
encompassing the National Water Resources Policy and National Irrigation
and Drainage Policy to improve management of water and irrigation
development in the country. We are reviving all the twelve River Basin
Authorities, namely;
I. Anambra – Imo
II. Benin – Owena
III. Chad Basin
IV. Cross River
V. Hadejia – Jama’are
VI. Lower Benue
VII. Lower Niger
VIII. Niger Delta
IX. Ogun – Osun
X. Sokoto – Rima
XI. Upper Benue
XII. Upper Niger
28.
The intention is eventually to fully commercialise them to better
support crop production, aqua –culture and accelerated rural
development.
29. This Administration is committed to the revival
of Lake Chad and improvement of the hydrology and ecology of the basin.
This will tune in with efforts to rehabilitate the thirty million people
affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad basin countries.
30.
The second plank in our economic revival strategy is centred on the
Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The Ministry will lead and oversee
the provision of critical infrastructure of power, road transport
network and housing development.
31. Power generation has
steadily risen since our Administration came on board from three
thousand three hundred and twenty four megawatts in June 2015, rising to
a peak of five thousand and seventy four megawatts in February 2016.
32.
For the first time in our history the country was producing five
thousand megawatts. However, renewed militancy and destruction of gas
pipelines caused acute shortage of gas and constant drop in electricity
output available on the grid.
33. There has been during the
period June 2015 to September 2016 big improvement in transmission
capacity from five thousand five hundred megawatts to the present seven
thousand three hundred megawatts.
34. There were only two system
collapses between June and December 2015, but due to vandalism by Niger
Delta militants the over-all system suffered 16 system collapses between
March and July 2016 alone. As I have said earlier, we are engaging with
responsible leadership in the region to find lasting solutions to
genuine grievances of the area but we will not allow a tiny minority of
thugs to cripple the country’s economy.
35. In the meantime,
government is going ahead with projects utilizing alternate technologies
such as hydro, wind, and solar to contribute to our energy mix. In this
respect, the Mambilla Hydro project, after many years of delay is
taking off this year. Contract negotiations are nearing completion with
Chinese firms for technical and financial commitments.
36. The
project is to be jointly financed by Nigeria and the
Chinese-Export-Import Bank. In addition, fourteen Solar Power Projects
have had their power purchase agreements concluded. Hence the plan to
produce one thousand two hundred megawatts of solar electricity for the
country would be realized on schedule.
37. And in line with the
objective of government to complete all abandoned projects across the
country, the Rural Electrification Agency’s projects needing completion
are provided for in the 2016 Budget. Bringing electricity to rural areas
will help farmers, small scale and cottage industries to integrate with
the national economy.
38. Roads Construction and Rehabilitation
has taken off. The sum of twelve billion naira was allocated to this
sector in the 2015 Budget, not enough even to pay interest on
outstanding unpaid claims.
39. Notwithstanding the budgetary
constraints, the current budget allocated two hundred and forty billion
naira for highway projects against twelve billion naira in 2015. Many
contractors who have not been paid for three years have now remobilized
to sites. Seven hundred and twenty point five billion naira has so far
been released this budget year to capital projects.
40. The
Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has received one hundred and ninety
seven point five billion naira. Work on the following highways has now
resumed.
1. Dualization of Calabar – Itu Road in Cross River/Akwa Ibom States.
2. Dualization of Lokoja – Benin Road, Ehor – Benin city, Edo State.
3. Re-construction of outstanding sections of Benin – Shagamu Express way, Edo/Ogun States.
4. Expansion works on Lagos – Ibadan Dual carriageway, Ogun/Oyo States
5. Rehabilitation of Onitsha – Enugu Expressway, Anambra/Enugu States.
6. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Enugu – Port Harcourt Dual carriageway, Abia/Rivers States.
7. Rehabilitation of Hadejia – Nguru Road, Jigawa State.
8. Dualization of Kano – Katsina Road, Kano State.
9. Dualization of Kano – Maiduguri Road, Borno State.
10. Dualization of Azare – Potiskum Road, Azare – Sharuri Road, Bauchi State.
11. Rehabilitation of Ilorin – Jebba – Mokwa – Birnin Gwari Road, Kwara State.
12. Construction of Oju/Lokoja – Oweto Bridge over River Benue, Benue State.
41. Other major highways are in the queue for rehabilitation or new construction.
42.
Already contractors have recalled about nine thousand workers laid off
and Government expects that several hundreds of thousands of workers
will be reengaged in the next few months as our public works programme
gains momentum.
43. On railways, we have provided our counterpart
funding to China for the building of our standard gauge Lagos -Kano
railway. Meanwhile, General Electric is investing two point two billion
USD in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage the
existing lines, including the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line. The
Lagos-Calabar railway will also be on stream soon.
44. We have
initiated the National Housing Programme. In 2014 four hundred million
naira was voted for Housing. In 2015 nothing. Our first budget this year
is devoting thirty five point six billion naira. Much of the house
building will be private – sector led but Government is initiating a
pilot housing scheme of two thousand eight hundred and thirty eight
units uniformly spread across the 36 states and FCT.
45. We
expect these units to be completed within 4 – 6 months. These
experimental Nigeria House model Units will be constructed using only
made in Nigeria building materials and components. This initiative is
expected to reactivate the building materials manufacturing sector,
generate massive employment opportunities and develop sector capacity
and expertise.
46. The programmes I have outlined will revive the economy, restore the value of the naira and drive hunger from our land.
47.
Abroad, Nigeria’s standing has changed beyond belief in the last 18
months. We are no longer a pariah state. Wherever I go, I have been
received with un-accustomed hospitality. Investors from all over the
world are falling over themselves to come and do business in Nigeria.
This government intends to make business environment more friendly
because we can not develop ourselves alone.
48. All countries, no
matter how advanced, welcome foreign investments to their economy. This
is the essence of globalization and no country in the 21st century can
be an island. Our reforms are therefore designed to prepare Nigeria for
the 21st century.
49. Finally, let me commend Nigerians for your
patience, steadfastness and perseverance. You know that I am trying to
do the right things for our country.
50. Thank you and may God bless our country.