The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media
and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has released an article titled, Nine Key Milestones
in President Buhar's First Year.
President Buhari will be celebrating his first year in
office on Sunday May 29th.
Read the article below:
Twelve months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in
as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
He came to power following the decisive victory of his
party, the All Progressives Congress, APC over the ruling People’s Democratic
Party, PDP and its candidate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The victory ended
the 16-year reign of the PDP.
President Buhari campaigned on a promise to fight Boko Haram
terrorism and secure the whole country, fight corruption and develop the
economy to the point that it creates jobs for the teeming unemployed.
The campaign message caught on very well with most
Nigerians, against the desperate efforts of the Jonathan administration which
deployed incumbency as tool for its own campaign. They literally threw the
kitchen at candidate Buhari. The government media were used against the
opponent. The private media sold their outlets to a free-spending government
pouring out venom, hate speech, libel and defamation. The public treasury was
personalized and its content poured into a campaign that shared out money for
weapons purchase to fight Boko Haram terrorism into the pockets of party
leaders and their campaign staff. The Army which served as the glue that held
the country as one through the years was compromised to such extent that they
claimed not to be aware that a former General in the Head of State, Muhammadu
Buhari had a secondary school certificate. Of course the certificate resurfaced
shortly after he won the election.
President Buhari came to office amidst massive hope and
expectation at home and abroad, that here at last was a leader who would stop
the slide and lead Nigeria to progress, development and the realization of her
destiny. The mood all over Nigeria, the continent and the world at the time he
took over was euphoric.
In line with the promises made, Nigeria under Muhammadu
Buhari has begun to show that it will be a radically different country than one
the world had become used to. Here is a proof of that:Promise of Transparency
and Accountability.
A promise kept by the President is of a government that not
only preached but also practiced transparency and accountability. The President
and the Vice President made public their assets as declared before they took
office on May 29th.
For the first time in the annals of our
Executive-Legislative relations, this country had all ministers nominated
screened and passed without any casualty. What is important is that not a
single incident was reported involving exchange of money in bribery of
parliamentarians. The President’s first budget, the 2016 appropriations bill
was passed, even though after some delays, without the usual bribery
allegations that attended the passage of budgets. The Senate and the House
under their current leadership must themselves be proud of this happening at
this time.
While still on the budget, the President must take credit
for the exposure of a particular kind of fraud, the padding of budget, itself a
known and ongoing practice until the whistle was blown by diligent ministers
and parliamentarians. For once, the country has a budget, the 2016
appropriations bill that is rid of added billions ending up in the pockets of
officials. By putting these changes in place, the government has established a
model for transparency in public expenditure.
Implementing the
Treasury Single Account,TSA
The President has been trying to right the many wrongs
things he inherited, especially in terms of securing government revenues which
leaked or were out rightly diverted to private accounts.
President Buhari didn't invent the TSA. What he did is to
bring political will to bear on its implementation. By this, government has a
snapshot at any given time of incoming revenue and expenditure following the
centralization of government accounts domiciled at the Central Bank.
At the last count, the President said he had saved the
country money in excess of three trillion Naira which would otherwise have been
wasted or shared out to officials at the end of the financial year.
Minimum Government
The President kept his promise to reduce superfluity in
government administration by cutting down on the number of ministers,
ministries and government departments. The delay in the coming of ministers was
first to reduce the number of ministries, and then set a new set of ground
rules to stop the theft of government resources through systemic leakages.
Boards of directors will come only when the President is satisfied that
agencies of government are brought in line with existing ministries structure
and that a new foundation is laid, in all cases, to replace the rotten past
that allowed a free-for-all when it came to dealing with public assets.
Fighting
Insecurity/Stabilizing the State
The first priority of this government as repeatedly
mentioned by the President, is security. "You must secure the country
before you can manage it well”, is a classic statement the President has
continued to repeat. Where we stand on this today is best captured by the
country’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in saying
that “the capacity of Boko Haram to hold territory has totally been decimated.
Our focus now is on dealing with the remnants of their forces and re-focusing
on the unfortunate humanitarian challenge caused by their activities.” This was
achieved following the change in the leadership of the armed forces, the
movement of the command and control centre to Maiduguri and realization of how
much can be achieved with greater international cooperation. In this respect,
the coming together of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin in the
Muti-National Joint Task Force under a centralized command had been helpful in
forging a common, regional response to the Boko Haran threat.
War against
corruption/ending impunity
Nigeria is country of paradoxes, one in which the VIP steals
an elephant and runs away with it but the poor man stealing a goat goes to jail
for up to 30 years.
The President has severally expressed his frustrations over
the fact that known thieves, 419 kingpins fly over our heads in private jets
and run around in Jaguars and Rolls Royces, as we wait endlessly for the law to
take its course. As military Head of State, what he did was to lock them up
until they proved their innocence. As an elected President, he has sworn to
uphold the constitution which guarantees citizen rights.
Things are changing with impunity in the country. For the
first time, VIP suspects are being asked questions by the investigating
agencies and are being charged to court. Many who would have snubbed the
bailiff and go scot-free are now standing before undergoing trials. Would
anyone have thought that a Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, pretenders
to thrones, the children of “natural rulers” including “toy” Sultans, Kings,
Emirs and Chiefs will be brought to trial and kept in prisons? Ending impunity
is one of key milestones of this administration.
The country today basks in the aura of a major battle
against corruption and the impunity that goes with that and world is supporting
the President.
In one year of his administration, a miracle has happened,
which is that there has been the total absence of multi-billion naira
corruption scandals that had characterized the previous administrations.
Global Diplomacy
In one year, the President has successfully reset the
relationship between this country and her immediate neighbors and with our lost
friends, both far and near. The West, Far East and Middle-East countries as
well as our neighbors who walked away from this country on account of the
arrogance of our past leaders, corruption and the abuse of human rights have
all come back to us.
Over the past one year in which the President travelled to
many countries, he has succeeded in convincing the world that Nigeria is now
under a responsible management with a government that is inviting of
prospective investors. As a result of his travels, Nigeria’s image has improved
and the country is occupying a preeminent place in the comity of nations.
President Buhari has indeed been a revelation to the world.
In addition to improving the standing of the country, his personal integrity
has given him the best ever international attention by any past President of
this country. The trips have opened doors that were shut against Nigeria, doors
that bring security cooperation, and eventually trade and economic benefits to
the country.
Fuel Import
Liberalisation
The fuel subsidy issue is a well-known cause of trouble in
this country. Every government in the past that tried to remove it got tested
in its political will and dropped it like a hot metal. There is nothing in this
country that is as politically unpopular.
Yet, even those who vocally supported it knew that it wasn't
working for the ordinary citizens. The secret service surveyed the price regime
of N86 per liter and reported to government five months ago that the price
prevailed only in Lagos and Abuja with the rest of the country paying higher.
Petrol subsidies served as a scam to line the pockets of officials and cronies
in business.
Acting in the best national interest, the President took the
very brave action of liberalizing the import of PMS products by first removing
subsidy from the budget and then opening the door for marketers to bring the
products to sell at a profit, saving the country trillions of naira in
fraudulent subsidy payments.
Due mainly to the trust they reposed in him, Nigerians have
accepted this change in the belief that the president means for them.
Major Infrasture
Products/Diversification
The President’s campaign for the diversification of the
economy, away from over-dependence on oil is already setting the tone for the
transformation of the economy into an agaric and industrial one.
The President has equally fared well in his efforts to
attract investment into Nigeria following his trips to some of those countries.
Discussions are ongoing with a number of them with rich foreign reserves that
have indicated a willingness to pour foreign capital to develop the economy and
create jobs here. From the sometimes zero capital allocation of the past, his
budget this year has 30% of its content devoted to capital projects. After many
years of delay, there will be a serious attempt to improve roads and rail
transport as well as power projects. His administration is determined to
improve the country's infrastructure landscape in a short period of time.
Social welfare
program
President Buhari’s administration is the first in Nigeria’s
history to take a major step towards the institution of a social welfare scheme
as enunciated by the APC.
One million of country’s poorest of the poor will get a
monthly supplement of N5,000.00. Another one million will get start-up loans
from the Bank of Industry. Five hundred thousand graduates will get teaching
jobs and 375,000 others without degrees will receive training to acquire
skills. Under this year’s budget, there is money for scholarship for medical,
science and technology students in tertiary institutions and a meal-a-day for
five million children in primary school. For the first time, the ordinary
citizen can claim that he/she has a budget of his/her own.
In one year in office, the Buhari administration has taken
major steps to secure the country and curtailing corruption while attracting
investors with a view to promoting industrial growth and job creation. Although
Nigeria is confronted with many problems that don’t have quick fixes, the
administration has revealed a fine talent for finding lasting solutions to
those kinds problems that had defied solution under the past governments. Given
the tenacity with which he fought the Boko Haram terrorism and corruption, the
economy, which is still work in progress, will receive a lot more attention
going forward. The rate of job creation and manufacturing should improve from
the third quarter of the year when the implementation of the budget gathers
steam. Happily, voters are still hopeful that President Buhari will produce the
cure for the ills of the economy.
While many still believe that it is too early to assess the
overall performance of the administration, the sentiment that prevails across
the country is that Nigeria will improve a lot under his leadership; that he
has a good vision and he is committed to Nigeria and Nigerian people.
Early enthusiasm and high expectations have their challenges
especially in times of low earnings from exports. Given this situation,
delivery will take time but the promised change will not fail to come.
In one year in office, the President has fused his own ideas
with APC’s program which is strong on social welfare. His government has
brought hope and respect to Nigeria. He has made a strong start on security,
war against corruption, foreign policy although the sticking issue remains the
limping economy he inherited which is hamstrung by corruption and the past
failure to diversity.
The President is tirelessly working for Nigeria and will
continue to do so with hard work, diligence and honestly for the period he is
in office.
By Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
Media and Publicity
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