1. I welcome you all to this occasion of the formal
presentation of the Hand-over notes of my Administration to the in-coming
Administration of the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.
2. This event and tomorrow’s inauguration of a new
administration are truly historic as it is the first time in the history of our
nation that we are witnessing the democratic and orderly transfer of power at
the Federal level from one political party to another.
3. The Hand-over notes which we now present, contain
the governance philosophy, strategies, policies, programmes and activities of
my Administration for the period - 2011-2015. Also to be found in the notes are
the objectives, targets and implementation strategies, achievements and
challenges of our key policies, schemes, initiatives as well as the status of
commitments and liabilities of the various MDAs.
4. As we hand over the affairs of the nation, it is
appropriate to recall that at inception, in May 2011, we committed ourselves to
consolidating national unity through democratization and good governance. Our
assessment then, and our firm belief ever since, is that the unity of Nigeria,
the security, well-being, greater freedoms and opportunities for all citizens
must remain the primary objectives of government.
5. The Agenda for National Transformation which
we did our best to implement consisted of clear and consistent governance
strategies, policies, plans, programmes and projects, in all facets of our
national life. Emphasis was placed on human and state security,
democratization, sound economic management, as well as structural and
institutional reforms.
6. Our foremost concern was the unity of
Nigeria. In keeping with that concern, we engineered a process that began
with a review of issues outstanding from previous Constitutional Conferences by
the Belgore Committee. After that, we widened political consultations through a
National Dialogue that was orchestrated through the Okurounmu Committee. These
culminated in the all-inclusive National Conference which unanimously
reaffirmed that Nigeria must remain united and indivisible.
7. The Conference also made resolutions and
recommendations for serious constitutional, political and governance reforms,
which we have forwarded to the National Assembly for appropriate legislative
action. It is our hope that the incoming Government will accord the Report of
the National Conference the very high priority that it deserves, as a genuine
expression of the will of our people.
8. The recognition that the starting point for good
governance is the legitimacy of the government itself informed our commitment
to promoting free and fair elections.
9. It also motivated innovations in the management and
conduct of elections which we undertook. Hopefully, in the years ahead, those
innovations will be properly and fully implemented so that Nigerians will be
even more assured of the integrity of the electoral system and the legitimacy
of any government that it produces.
10. To strengthen the social contract between the government
and the governed, we institutionalized the rule of law as well as the
independence of the legislature and the judiciary. We also promoted group
and individual freedoms. As a result, there is vast expansion in democratic,
social and economic space for all citizens.
11.Our nation and citizens faced many new challenges over the past
four years but the greatest was the vastly increased menace of Boko Haram with
their mindless terror, mass killings, utter ruthlessness, kidnapping of
innocent children and other unspeakable acts of brutality.
12. We should all remember that Boko Haram’s
emergence predated our administration going as far back as 2002. The group
however became extremely malignant with the killing of its leader, Mohammed
Yusuf in July 2009.
13. It therefore became an urgent task for us to
effectively confront the great threat Boko Haram posed to the security and
well-being of our people. To do so, we overhauled and virtually reinvented our
security architecture to confront Boko Haram and its insurgency. We
re-organized our security apparatus. We re-equipped and fully motivated our
forces.
14. Victory is now in sight and within our reach.
However, the cost in blood of citizens and heroes; and the diversion of
national treasure from urgent needs for development have been very high. While
more than 500 women and children have been rescued from the clutches of Boko
Haram thus far by our security forces, it remains my sincere hope and prayer
that our beloved daughters from Chibok will soon be reunited with us.
15.
I wish to thank the Nigerian people for their resilience and patience. I also
wish to pay very special and personal tribute to all the men and women of our
valiant armed forces and security agencies. Their sacrifice and dedication have
brought us thus far.
16. While striving to overcome our national
security challenges, we still gave necessary attention to economic development.
Our goal was to achieve long-term economic growth and stability, improve the
quality and quantum of infrastructure and enhance human capital development.
17.
Our financial system reforms included the Treasury Single Account [TSA] that
unified the structure of government accounts for all MDAs and thereby brought
order to cash flow management; and Government Integrated Financial Management
Information System [GIFMIS] was introduced to plug leakages and waste of
resources. The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System [IPPIS]
weeded out 60,450 ghost workers in 359 out of 425 MDAs, yielding N185.4
billion in savings to the Federal government.
18.
Improved Revenue Mobilization was achieved through improvements in the laws and
compliance measures. In 2013 alone, these measures resulted in a 69% rise in
Federal tax revenues from N2.8 trillion to N4.8 trillion. Also, Waiver Policy
and Trade Facilitation were reformed to create a more rational regime. Our
emphasis shifted to granting waivers to specific sectors instead of individual
companies and the Sovereign Wealth Fund was established to provide
stabilization from external shocks, provide funding for critical infrastructure
and savings for future generations.
19. Our Financial Sector reforms addressed
the issues of inefficiencies in the coordination and monitoring of the
financial system. Our policies promoted transparency, better risk management,
new banking models and payment systems. We established the Assets Management
Corporation of Nigeria as a resolution mechanism for toxic banking assets. We
strengthened banking supervision and enhanced public confidence in Nigerian
Banks
.
20. Similarly, we undertook
innovative reforms for job creation and repositioned the manufacturing,
agriculture and housing sectors. Specifically, it
was observed that over the years, job creation did not keep pace with economic
growth. Thus unemployment, especially amongst the youth was assuming alarming
dimensions.
21. To address this, my
administration made job creation a key consideration for all programmes in the
Transformation Agenda. Emphasis was also shifted towards empowering youths to
become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers, through such initiatives as Youth
Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN), Graduate Internship Scheme
(GIS), the SURE-P Technical Vocational Education and Training Programme (TVET)
and the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).
22.
Manufacturing in Nigeria faces many challenges, including poor power supply,
high cost of input, high cost of doing business, multiple taxation, poor
infrastructure and lack of synergy with the labour market. To address
these problems, we launched several programmes and initiatives including the
National Industrial Revolution Plan and a new National Automobile Policy
designed to boost domestic car production and expand existing capacity. Since
then, five new private vehicle assembly plants have been established.
23.
Agriculture is critical to national survival and yet the sector was besieged
with many problems. By year 2010, Nigeria was the second largest importer of
food in the world, spending about N1.3 trillion on the importation of
fish, rice and sugar alone.
24. The reforms we introduced in agriculture dramatically increased local
production of staple food and saved us vast amounts of money that we would have
spent on the importation of food items.
25.
To address the glaring
inadequacy of critical national infrastructure, we focused on the Power Sector,
Roads, Railways, Aviation, Ports and Harbours as well as on Water and
Sanitation, Information and Communication Technology.
26.
My government introduced the Power Sector Roadmap
in 2010. Since then, we have privatized the generation and distribution
aspects in a most transparent process. Obstacles to the private sector
investments in power supply were removed and we developed cost effective
electricity tariff to make the sector more attractive. It remains our hope that
the successor companies to PHCN and also the private sector will step forward
with the necessary investment to make the power reform work.
27. The major challenge in the road sector in
Nigeria is the high cost of building roads and it continues to rise. The other
challenge is the fact that because of regular use, roads are one of the fastest
depreciating assets in developing countries.
28. To address this, Government has developed
the required legal and regulatory framework and created opportunities for
Private Public Partnership (PPP) in road construction and maintenance.
29. From Ore/Benin Road, Lagos/Ibadan
Expressway to the Kano/Maiduguri dualisation projects, we made concerted
efforts to address age-long problems of delays in construction, design defect,
neglect and ineffective maintenance. The construction of the historic Second
Niger Bridge has also commenced, and on completion, it will open new and
far-reaching opportunities for greater trade and interaction among our people.
30.
In the Aviation Sector, our government
developed a Master Plan to institutionalise safety and security, and to develop
infrastructure at the airports and local airlines. We embarked on the
reconstruction and rehabilitation of 22 airports nationwide. Construction work
on five new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and
Enugu are also on-going.
31.
There has been a revolution in rail
transportation. We rehabilitated the old narrow gauge network and ensured that
it has served our people steadily for three years running with new coaches and
improved expanded services nationwide.
32. We are in the construction stages of a new
national network for standard gauge speed-train services, with the new rail
line segment, from Abuja to Kaduna, successfully completed. In addition, we
have initiated the process for the construction of an ultramodern coastal rail
line that will run from Lagos to Calabar, with a link to Onitsha.
33. We have also successfully completed the
dredging of River Niger, from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State, and
completed construction works for the Onitsha River Port. Other River Ports at
Baro, Lokoja and Oguta, are at advanced construction stages. Working with the
states and development partners, we have facilitated the process towards the
development of two new deep sea ports at Lekki in Lagos, and Ibaka in Akwa
Ibom. We have also implemented reforms to streamline the clearing regime in
existing ports, increasing cargo turnover time and easing business for all
users.
34.
In the oil and gas sector, our local content policy has continued to empower
Nigerian companies, particularly in technical and engineering projects. The Gas
Revolution Industrial Park in Delta State is unprecedented in the sub
-
sector, and will not
only deliver Africa’s biggest industrial park, but all the accompanying
benefits to local industry and job creation.
35. We recognized Human Capital as the most
important agent for transformational development. Our reforms in this sector
focused on Health, Education and Social Development and also on Women and Youth
Empowerment and Social Safety Nets.
36.
In the Health sector, the comprehensive
National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) of 2011 laid the foundation for
widening access and improving the quality of healthcare with lower infant
mortality rates and higher life expectancy for the populace. Our
effective curtailment of the Ebola epidemic has continued to receive worldwide
acclaim as an example in prompt and effective national disease management. On
our watch, guinea-worm has been eradicated from Nigeria and we are on the verge
of wiping out polio entirely.
37.
In the Education sector, our objectives are clear and precise. They emphasise
expansion of access and the upgrade of quality. I am proud that we have widened
access by establishing 18 more Federal Universities and other specialized
polytechnics. We strengthened TETFUND and used it to boldly address the
problems of inadequate infrastructure in the existing institutions.
38.
I am particularly proud of our efforts with regards to Early Childhood
Education and Out-of-School Children. We provided modern hybrid Almajiri
Education Programme in the North, attended to schooling needs of boys in the
South-East and ensured the construction of special girls’ schools in 13 States
of the Federation to improve girl-child education. We expanded opportunities
for open and distance learning and provided scholarships at all levels to help
improve access to quality education for bright and promising Nigerians.
39.
We have promoted gender-mainstreaming with commensurate priority and
opportunities for our womenfolk, beginning with ensuring that not less than 30
per cent of key Federal appointments go to women. Other initiatives that we
have taken include: the National Gender Policy, Establishment of Gender Units
in Federal MDAs, Women Empowerment Training Programmes, Micro-Credit for Women,
Social Safety Net Programmes and the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme.
40. My
Administration has emphasized giving a free hand to our Anti-corruption
agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent
Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). We preferred that they mature into strong
institutions instead of being the images, the hammer and the anvil of a strong
man. We must encourage them to abide by the rule of law and due process instead
of resorting to dramatic or illegal actions orchestrated for cheap applause
.
41. Beyond
the very impressive records of enhanced convictions by statutory
anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC, our other strategy has been to
fashion economic policies that deliver higher deterrence and frustrate
concealment. In this regard, the Bureau of Public Procurement has played a
central role and impacted strongly on the fight against corruption.
42. In Sports, we have improved our national performance in team and individual
events. The disappointment of not qualifying to defend our African Football
Championship was cushioned by a decent FIFA World Cup appearance, an Under-17
World Cup win in addition to other victories in other international football
tournaments and the Paralympics. We have also encouraged excellence in other
sports, apart from football, resulting in exceptional performance in
international sporting events, especially in athletics.
43. Our foreign policy position remains strong. In October 2013, Nigeria was
elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for
the second time on our watch. Our country had only served in that capacity
thrice before 2011, since independence in 1960. Our Administration also played
a leading role in the resolution of security and political challenges in our
sub-region, particularly in Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and
Burkina Faso.
44.
In addition, we increased engagement with Nigerians in the diaspora who
contribute so much in remittances to their fatherland. Our Administration
successfully encouraged more of them to invest in Nigeria and others to return
home and join in the task of nation-building.
45. In
summary, Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our
administration has done its best to intervene robustly and impact positively on
key aspects of our national life.
46. There is no
doubt that challenges still abound, but they are surmountable and overwhelming
national transformation remains realisable, with continuity, commitment and
consistency.
47. Nigeria
is blessed with citizens that will always remain faithful, firmly committed to
national unity, accelerated political, social and economic development.
48. As we hand
over the reins of government, I believe that our nation is secure, our
democracy is stable, and the future is bright. Let us all work together, and
with greater resolve, continue to build a stronger and more prosperous nation.
49. May God
Almighty continue to bless our dear country, Nigeria.
50. I thank you
all.
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