President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a new year message tto Nigerians as the world ushers in a new decade.
In the message, the Nigerian leader wrote, 'this is a new year
and the beginning of a new decade the Nigerian Decade of prosperity and
promise for Nigeria and for Africa'.
See the full letter below...
My Dear Compatriots,
NIGERIA’S DECADE: Today marks a new decade. It is a time of
hope, optimism and fresh possibilities. We look forward as a nation to
the 2020s as the opportunity to build on the foundations we have laid
together on security, diversification of our economy and taking on the
curse of corruption.
These are the pledges on which I have been twice elected
President and remain the framework for a stable, sustainable and more
prosperous future.
Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. I salute the
commitment of the millions who voted in peace last February and of those
leaders who contested for office vigorously but fairly, submitting to
the authority of the electorate, the Independent National Electoral
Commission and judicial process.
I understand very well the frustrations our system has in the
past triggered. I will be standing down in 2023 and will not be
available in any future elections. But I am determined to help
strengthen the electoral process both in Nigeria and across the region,
where several ECOWAS members go to the polls this year.
As Commander-in-Chief, my primary concern is the security of
the nation and the safety of our citizens. When I assumed office in May
2015 my first task was to rally our neighbours so that we could confront
Boko Haram on a coordinated regional basis. Chaos is not a neighbour
any of us hope for.
We have been fighting on several fronts: violent extremists,
cultists and organised criminal networks. It has not been easy. But as
we are winning the war, we also look to the challenge of winning the
peace, the reconstruction of lives, communities and markets. The North
East Development Commission will work with local and international
stakeholders to help create a new beginning for the North East.
The Federal Government will continue to work with State
Governors, neighbouring states and our international partners to tackle
the root causes of violent extremism and the networks that help finance
and organise terror.
Our security forces will receive the best training and modern
weaponry, and in turn will be held to the highest standards of
professionalism, and respect for human rights. We will use all the human
and emerging technological resources available to tackle kidnapping,
banditry and armed robbery.
The new Ministry of Police Affairs increased recruitment of
officers and the security reforms being introduced will build on what we
are already delivering. We will work tirelessly at home and with our
allies in support of our policies to protect the security of life and
property. Our actions at all times will be governed by the rule of law.
At the same time, we shall look always to engage with all
well-meaning leaders and citizens of goodwill to promote dialogue,
partnership and understanding. We need a democratic government that can
guarantee peace and security to realise the full potential of our
ingenious, entrepreneurial and hard-working people. Our policies are
designed to promote genuine, balanced growth that delivers jobs and
rewards industry.
Our new Economic Advisory Council brings together respected and
independent thinkers to advise me on a strategy that champions
inclusive and balanced growth, and above all fight poverty and safeguard
national economic interests.
As we have sat down to celebrate with friends and family over
this holiday season, for the first time in a generation our food plates
have not all been filled with imports of products we know can easily be
produced here at home. The revolution in agriculture is already a
reality in all corners of the country.
New agreements with Morocco, Russia and others will help us
access on attractive terms the inputs we need to accelerate the
transformation in farming that is taking place. A good example of
commitment to this inclusive growth is the signing of the African
Continental Free Trade Area and the creation of the National Action
Committee to oversee its implementation and ensure the necessary
safeguards are in place to allow us to fully capitalise on regional and
continental markets.
The joint land border security exercise currently taking place
is meant to safeguard Nigeria’s economy and security. No one can doubt
that we have been good neighbours and good citizens. We have been the
helpers and shock-absorbers of the sub-region but we cannot allow our
well-planned economic regeneration plans to be sabotaged.
As soon as we are satisfied that the safeguards are adequate,
normal cross-border movements will be resumed. Already, we are making
key infrastructure investments to enhance our ease of doing business. On
transportation, we are making significant progress on key roads such as
the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja – Kano
highway. 2020 will also see tangible progress on the Lagos to Kano Rail
line.
Through Executive Order 007, we are also using alternative
funding programmes in collaboration with private sector partners to fix
strategic roads such as the Apapa-Oworonshoki Express way. Abuja and
Port Harcourt have new international airport terminals, as will Kano and
Lagos in 2020. When completed, all these projects will positively
impact business operations in the country.
These projects are not small and do not come without some
temporary disruption; we are doing now what should have been done a long
time ago. I thank you for your patience and look forward to the
dividends that we and future generations will long enjoy. Power has
been a problem for a generation.
We know we need to pick up the pace of progress. We have
solutions to help separate parts of the value chain to work better
together. In the past few months, we have engaged extensively with
stakeholders to develop a series of comprehensive solutions to improve
the reliability and availability of electricity across the country.
These solutions include ensuring fiscal sustainability for the
sector, increasing both government and private sector investments in the
power transmission and distribution segments, improving payment
transparency through the deployment of smart meters and ensuring
regulatory actions maximise service delivery.
We have in place a new deal with Siemens, supported by the
German government after German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited us in
Abuja, to invest in new capacity for generation, transmission and
distribution. These projects will be under close scrutiny and
transparency – there will be no more extravagant claims that end only in
waste, theft and mismanagement.
The next 12 months will witness the gradual implementation of
these actions, after which Nigerians can expect to see significant
improvement in electricity service supply reliability and delivery.
Separately, we have plans to increase domestic gas consumption. In the
first quarter of 2020, we will commence work on the AKK gas pipeline,
OB3 Gas pipeline and the expansion of the Escravos – Lagos Pipeline.
While we look to create new opportunities in agriculture,
manufacturing and other long neglected sectors, in 2020 we will also
realise increased value from oil and gas, delivering a more competitive,
attractive and profitable industry, operating on commercial principles
and free from political interference.
Just last week, we were able to approve a fair framework for
the USD10 billion expansion of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, which will
increase exports by 35 percent, restore our position as a world leader
in the sector and create thousands of jobs. The Amendment of the Deep
Offshore Act in October signalled our intention to create a modern,
forward-looking industry in Nigeria.
I am confident that in 2020 we will be able to present a
radical programme of reform for oil and gas that will excite investors,
improve governance and strengthen protections for host communities and
the environment.
We can expect the pace of change in technology only to
accelerate in the decade ahead. Coupled with our young and vibrant
population, this offers huge opportunities if we are able to harness the
most productive trends and tame some of the wilder elements. This is a
delicate balance with which many countries are struggling.
We are seeking an informed and mature debate that reflects our
rights and responsibilities as citizens in shaping the boundaries of how
best to allow technology to benefit Nigeria. During my Democracy Day
speech on June 12, 2019, I promised to lay the enduring foundations for
taking a hundred million Nigerians out of mass poverty over the next 10
years. Today I restate that commitment.
We shall continue reforms in education, health care and water
sanitation. I have met international partners such as GAVI, the vaccine
alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who support our
social welfare programmes. I will continue to work with State and Local
Governments to make sure that these partnerships deliver as they should.
Workers will have a living wage and pensioners will be looked after.
We are steadily clearing pensions and benefits arrears
neglected for so long. The new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs,
Disaster Management and Social Development will consolidate and build on
the social intervention schemes and will enhance the checks and
balances necessary for this set of programmes to succeed for the long
term.
I am able to report that the journey has already begun with the
passage and signing into law of the 2020 Appropriation Act. As the new
decade dawns, we are ready to hit the ground running. Let me pay tribute
to the Ninth National Assembly who worked uncommonly long hours to make
sure that the 2020 budget scrutiny is both thorough and timely.
The close harmony between the Executive and Legislature is a
sharp contrast to what we have experienced in the recent past, when the
Senate kept the previous budget for 7 months without good reason just to
score cheap political points thereby disrupting the budgetary processes
and overall economic development plans.
Our policies are working and the results will continue to show
themselves more clearly by the day. Nigeria is the most tremendous,
can-do market, offering extraordinary opportunities and returns.
Investors can look forward with confidence not only to an increasing
momentum of change but also to specific incentives, including our new
visa-on-arrival policy.
They can also be certain of our unshakeable commitment to
tackle corruption. As we create an environment that allows initiative,
enterprise and hard work to thrive, it is more important than ever to
call out those who find the rule of law an inconvenience, or independent
regulation an irritation.
We are doing our part here in Nigeria. We will continue to
press our partners abroad to help with the supply side of corruption and
have received some encouragement. We expect more funds stolen in the
past to be returned to us and they will be ploughed back into
development with all due transparency.
This is a joint initiative. Where our policies have worked
best, it has been because of the support of ordinary Nigerians in their
millions, numbers that even the most powerful of special interests
cannot defy. I thank you for your support. Transition by its very nature
carries with it change and some uncertainty along the way. I encourage
you to be tolerant, law abiding and peace loving.
This is a new year and the beginning of a new decade – the
Nigerian Decade of prosperity and promise for Nigeria and for Africa.
To recapitulate, some of the projects Nigerians should expect to come
upstream from 2020 include:
47 road projects scheduled for completion in 2020/21, including
roads leading to ports; Major bridges including substantial work on the
Second Niger Bridge; Completion of 13 housing estates under the
National Housing Project Plan; Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri and Enugu
international airports to be commissioned in 2020; Launching of an
agricultural rural mechanisation scheme that will cover 700 local
governments over a period of three years; Launching of the Livestock
Development Project Grazing Model in Gombe State where 200,000 hectares
of land has been identified; Training of 50,000 workers to complement
the country’s 7,000 extension workers; Commissioning of the Lagos –
Ibadan and Itakpe – Warri rail lines in the first quarter; Commencement
of the Ibadan – Abuja and Kano – Kaduna rail lines also in the first
quarter; Further liberalisation of the power sector to allow businesses
to generate and sell power; Commencement of the construction of the
Mambilla Power project by the first half of 2020; and Commencement of
the construction of the AKK gas pipeline, OB3 gas pipeline and the
expansion of the Escravos – Lagos pipeline in the first quarter of 2020.
Thank you very much!
-President Muhammadu Buhari, State House, Abuja.
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