Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday listed the 17 achievements of his
boss.
He also noted that the coming year (2018) will be Nigeria’s
“Year of Infrastructure” as the government has lined up a number of
important infrastructure projects which cut across the various sectors.
Here are the 2017 major achievements of Buhari in 2017 as listed by Adesina
1.
Nigeria exited its worst recession in decades. After five quarters of
negative growth, the economy bounced back into positive territory.
Agriculture was one of the stars of 2017, posting consistent growth
levels even throughout the recession. Also, Inflation fell for ten
consecutive months during 2017 (February to November).
2.
The Naira stabilised against the dollar, after the Central Bank
introduced a new forex window for Investors and Exporters. The stability
has attracted billions of dollars in portfolio investments since April
2017.
3. On the back of a stable Naira and increased
investment inflows, Nigeria’s stock market emerged one of the
best-performing in the world, delivering returns in excess of 40
percent.
4. Nigeria saw bumper food harvests, especially
in rice, whose local production continues to rise significantly (States
like Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano leading the pack, with Ogun joining at the end
of 2017). The price of a 50kg bag of rice – a staple in the country –
has fallen by about 30 percent since the beginning of 2017, as local
production has gone up.
5. The Federal Government
launched a 701 billion Naira Intervention Fund (‘Payment Assurance
Programme’) aimed at supporting power generation companies to meet their
payment obligations to gas and equipment suppliers, banks and other
partners. The impact is being felt, the amount of power being
distributed is now currently steady at around 4,000MW – higher than
previously recorded.
6. The Federal Government began paying
pensions to police officers who were granted Presidential pardon in 2000
after serving in the former Biafran Police during the Nigerian Civil
War. These officers, and their next of kin, have waited for their
pensions for 17 years since the Presidential pardon.
7.
Nigeria rose 24 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business
rankings, and earned a place on the List of Top 10 Reformers in the
world.
8. Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves grew by
$12 billion, reaching the highest level since 2014. Nigeria also added,
this year, an additional $250m to its Sovereign Wealth Fund. Also,
Nigeria’s trade balance crossed over into surplus territory, from a
deficit in 2016.
9. Nigeria successfully issued two
Eurobonds (US$4.5bn), a Sukuk Bond (100 billion Naira), a Diaspora Bond
(US$300m), and the first Sovereign Climate Bond in Africa, raising
billions of dollars for infrastructure spending.
10. The
Federal Government launched a Tax Amnesty scheme expected to raise
hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenues when it closes in
March 2018.
11. The Federal Government successfully
commenced implementation of a Whistleblowing Programme that has so far
seen recoveries of tens of millions of dollars.
12. The Social
Investment Programme – Nigeria’s most ambitious social welfare programme
ever – rolled out across dozens of states. (Currently, 5.2 million
primary school children in 28,249 schools in 19 states are being fed
daily; 200,000 unemployed graduated enlisted into the Npower Job Scheme,
and a quarter of a million loans already distributed to artisans,
traders, and farmers).
13. The number of Nigerians
facing food insecurity in the northeast dropped by half, according to
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
14. The
Nigeria Customs Service recorded its highest-ever revenue collection,
crossing the One Trillion Naira (N1,000,000,000) mark. [The target for
2017 was 770 billion Naira (N770,573,730,490); 2016 Collection was just
under 900 billion (N898,673,857,431.07)]
15. The Joint
Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), under the new management
appointed by President Buhari in 2016, remitted 7.8 billion Naira to the
coffers of the Federal Government. The total amount remitted by JAMB
between 2010 and 2016 was 51 million Naira.
16. 2017 was
also the Year of Nigeria’s Agriculture Revolution, embodied by the
successes of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) and the Anchor
Borrowers Programme. More than a dozen moribund fertilizer blending
plants were revived under the PFI this year.
17.
Finally, 2017 will be the Year that laid the foundation for a 2018 that
will be Nigeria’s Year of Infrastructure. A number of important
infrastructure projects, in power, rail and road, are scheduled to come
on-stream or inch close to completion next year.