MINISTER of Information
and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has reiterated that the present
administration of President Mohammadu Buhari remains committed to turning around
the economic situation of the country for the good of the citizenry.
Mohammed admitted that the
administration was not elected to make excuses but to put the nation back on
the right track having been subjected to monumental decay by the previous administrations
adding that fight against corruption, security of lives and property and
resuscitating the power sector remain the cardinal agendas of the
administration.
Speaking at a meeting with
members of Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja alongside four
other ministers, the minister reassured Nigerians that the present
administration was not lacking in political will, commitment, discipline and
prudence despite the present hardship being experienced by the teeming
population of the country.
Other ministers in
attendance are: Dr. Chris Ngige, Labour and Employment; Babatunde
Fashiola, Power, Housing and Work; FCT, Musa Bello and Trade and Investment,
Okey Enelamah.
Mohammed however noted
that for keen followers of the activities of government in the past one year
can attest to vibrant and remarkable actions taken by the administration
towards fulfilling its campaign promises in no distant time.
“As I have said at many
fora, our economy, or whatever is left of it after years of serial
mismanagement and massive corruption, is in a bad state.
“Throw into the mix the
huge fall in oil price, and you have nothing but a disaster of an economy. But
then, this Administration is aware that it was not elected to make excuses but
to put the nation back on a sound economic footing, ensure the security of
lives and property and banish corruption.
“We have therefore decided
to turn the disaster that we inherited into a blessing by diversifying our
economy away from the mono-product of oil, leveraging on agriculture, solid
minerals as well as culture and tourism, among others.
“Let me assure Nigerians
that the change we promised is real, despite the tough situation we are in at
the moment. It is real because there is no shortage of political will, commitment,
discipline and prudence on the part of government, under the dedicated and
visionary leadership of President Buhari.
“Now, make no mistake
about it: The road will be rough. But as the saying goes, the darker the night,
the brighter the morning. Our long suffering people will surely smile again.
Change is no instant coffee. It is a process. We are now laying a solid
foundation for our country.
“By earmarking 30 per cent
of our budget to capital expenditure, we are building and rebuilding
infrastructure. Through our massive social intervention this year alone, we are
catering for the weak among us through the conditional transfer of 5,000 Naira
to the vulnerable, we are creating jobs as we move to employ 500,000 graduates
and 100,000 non-graduates, we are offering soft loans to market women, men and
traders, we are ready to feed 5.5 million school children once daily, and we
are providing scholarships to 100,000 students studying Science Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics.
“In total, over 8 million
Nigerians will benefit directly, and millions more indirectly, from our social
intervention fund.
“Nigeria will overcome the
economic catastrophe caused by years of bad governance, mind-boggling
corruption and unprecedented profligacy. But we must not despair. We must keep
hope alive.
“The Buhari Administration
has also squarely taken on the fight against corruption and it is winning.
Today, the issue of corruption has become topical in national discourse and the
corrupt are no longer able to flaunt their ill-gotten wealth with impunity, as
they used to do. This is because the government has succeeded in sensitizing
Nigerians to the cost of corruption to their lives.
“For example, it was
corruption that prolonged the war against Boko Haram and dispatched many
soldiers and civilians to their early graves; It was corruption that ensured
that while oil was selling for over 100 dollars per barrel, the country had
nothing to show for the windfall; it was because of corruption that even though
the national budget has increased from less than a trillion in 1999 to over 6
trillion in 2016, poverty has grown almost at the same rate that the budget has
increased; It was corruption that gave Nigerians darkness, instead of light,
while successive governments pumped millions of dollars into the power sector.
“Nigeria’s economy poses a
great challenge! Nigeria has lost a huge chunk of its earnings to the massive
crash in the price of oil.
“But the Administration
has decided to see opportunities rather than difficulties by working
assiduously to diversify the nation’s economy away from oil.”
“Many have asked me if indeed Nigeria is
broke. In answering them, I have shunned semantics. I have simply asked them:
If a man earning 100,000 Naira a month suddenly sees his salary plummet to
40,000 Naira, what is that called?” he asked.
Appraising Nigerians for
their support, understanding and perseverance in the past year, the minister
agreed that the country was passing through a very difficult situation at this
time, with the loss of over 60 per cent of national income due to the drop in
the price of crude oil, however hinted that the government is assiduously
putting measures in place towards addressing the ugly situations.
Also speaking at the event,
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige insisted that the organized
labour was duly carried along during the entire consultative meetings held
before the recent hike in price of fuel adding that this position prompted oil
workers and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to back out of the strike called
against the deregulation.
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