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Tag: BUHARI

  • How Buhari has fared in three years?

    President Muhammadu Buhari has declared his intention to run for a second term in next year’s general elections. But the popularity of the 85-year old Buhari appears not to be as strong as it was, three years after he assumed power on the crest of popular yearnings for change, particularly because of the growing insecurity, as well as the tough economic situation. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines how the country has fared under his administration.

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s election victory three years ago was a moment of joy for many Nigerians, because it was the first time an opposition party would defeat an incumbent administration. The President’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had an ambitious plan to make the country safe again, to tackle corruption and take into account the interests of ordinary people.

    But, three years after he assumed power, has Buhari measured up to the demands of his job? The consensus is that it has been a mixed bag of successes and setbacks for the Buhari administration. The administration is believed to have done well in certain areas, particularly infrastructure, agriculture and recovery of some monies looted from the coffers of the government by key figures of the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. On the other hand, it has been widely criticized by a cross section of Nigerians, for failing to deliver on some of his campaign promises.

    For instance, the administration’s handling of the deteriorating security situation in the country has exposed it to ridicule than any other issue. It may have subdued Boko Haram insurgents. The terrorist group, which held swathes of territory across the Northeast in 2014, is not as strong as it used to be. But the Buhari administration has a more deadly group of terrorists on its hands, with the upsurge in the killings of so-called herdsmen in Benue, Taraba and elsewhere in the country. The administration has been blamed for allowing the crisis to fester, by failing to take a decisive position on the group from the outset.

    With the escalation of the crisis, the government has forced to take the matter more seriously. But, it appears to have lost the initiative, because it is merely reacting to incidents of killings, rather than taking a proactive measure to douse the crisis.

    Last week Catholic bishops led a nationwide protest to mark the funeral of two priests and 17 church members that were murdered in Benue State by the herdsmen. Tens of thousands of citizens followed the call of the bishops to come out and protest. They held services and protest marches in several cities across the country. The protest was the latest in the series of moves by the populace to get the government to address what have become spontaneous and regular killings by herdsmen in Benue and Taraba states particularly. The message of the bishops was that the Buhari administration must do more to protect the people. The attack on the church was the latest in a series of clashes in the Northcentral region that have left hundreds of people dead over the past few months.

    Observers are wondering why government cannot deal with herdsmen the same way it neutralised the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). A legal practitioner and human rights activist, Mr. Monday Ubani, said the attitude of the government in declaring IPOB a terrorist organization on the one hand and asking Nigerians on the other to bear with the herdsmen, by regarding them as their brothers, speaks volumes about the worldview of the people in power.

    The Second Vice President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), added: “This is not fair at all. The IPOB weren’t killing people, but the herdsmen have been slaughtering innocent Nigerians. We read in the newspapers that some of those who attended the funeral of the slain Catholic priests in Benue State last week were ambushed and slaughtered on their way home. Yet, they are not a terrorist group; they are our brothers that should be accommodated.”

    Ubani said a modern country should not be run the way Nigeria is being run by the present government. He said: “I agree that a lot has been achieved on the issue of insecurity, by decimating Boko Haram, but virtually nothing has been done to address the menace of Fulani herdsmen that are killing people, especially in the Northcentral region of the country. Besides, the issue of kidnapping is still on the rise; they have not been able to tackle it.

    “The government is very averse to criticisms and advice; they are averse to any form of opposition. They don’t like criticisms at all; they see you as an enemy, the moment you have a contrary view to theirs, even if you are their friend and brother. This is not healthy in a democracy.

    “As for obedience to the rule of law, their score is zero, because of their disobedience of several court rulings, including that on the detained Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. There has also been a trampling upon the fundamental human rights of people in the course of the fight against insurgency and this has been corroborated by international agencies. So, they need to do more to avert such tendency in future.”

    Food safety activist and founding President, Mycotoxicology Society of Nigeria, Prof. Dele Fapohunda, said the upsurge in herdsmen killings has led to the abandonment of some farms by their proprietors for fear of their lives and that it will also exacerbate ethnic and religious mistrust in the country and make road travels unsafe. He added that the Kaduna-Abuja and Abuja-Lokoja routes are already deadly routes for kidnapping and robbery.

    He added: “With this, the gains and enhanced interest recorded in agriculture and food sector may soon be reversed, resulting in an unprecedented profile of food insecurity, if this ugly trend is not curtailed.”

    The food safety activist blames rising unemployment, uncontrolled manufacture, importation and use of small arms and huge drug crisis among the youths for the growing insecurity in the country, adding “this is a result of many years of lethargy”. He said: “All these have combined to erase the innocence an average Nigerian youth was known for.”

    Fapounda called for massive investment on youths, to make Nigeria attractive to them. He added: “There should be a conscious effort to mop up all illegal small arms in a house-to-house fashion; and periodic direct employment of youths in the area of intelligence gathering. Since anonymity breeds criminality, there should be a robust citizens’ data base and every Nigerian must be identifiable by a constituency. Therefore surveillance through electronic, professional and community development platforms should be intensified. With this, youths will become less restive.”

    On the flip side, President Buhari is believed to have taken a number of steps that would go a long way in transforming the economy in the medium and long term. For instance, the administration has gone a long way in its bid to diversify the economy through encouragement of agriculture, particularly the boost in local production of rice.

    The country has started reaping the benefits of the availability and accessibility of credit and agro-inputs to farmers, which the administration has facilitated since 2016, through bumper harvests. Through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the government facilitates access to credit for rice farmers in 30 states under its Anchor Borrowers Programme, as well as the rehabilitation and expansion of irrigation facilities and the gradual revival of extension services and these have boosted food production generally and caused a gradual but steady downward slide in the price of rice.

    The upsurge in local production of rice, it is said, has not only reduced the country’s food-dependency on other countries, but also narrowed the gap in the country’s balance of trade with other nations.

    From all indications, the administration also appears determined to upgrade the country’s infrastructure. The Federal Government on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, approved the transfer of about $650 million (about N198.9 billion) to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), as the initial funding for the take-off of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF). The initiative is aimed at eliminating the risks of project funding, cost variation and completion that have plagued the development of the nation’s critical infrastructure assets over the last few decades.

    Under the above initiative, the Lagos-Kano Standard Rail Gauge project is on. While the Lagos-Ibadan and the Kano-Kaduna sectors of the project are scheduled to be completed next year, the entire stretch is due for completion in 2021. Meanwhile, negotiations are on for the costal rail project covering 15 cities, from Lagos to Calabar.

    This single-minded commitment to upgrading and developing transport infrastructure has seen the government embarking on several road projects across various states. Many of the projects, it is said, had been abandoned in recent years, because of mounting debts owed by the Federal Government to contractors.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, disclosed recently that the administration has invested N2.5 trillion in infrastructure since it came to power in the last three years. Her words: “Overall, our focus has been to invest massively in infrastructure to make sure we get the economy growing. So far, we have pumped in over N2.5 trillion in infrastructure, especially on capital projects between 2015 and 2017.

    “If you move around the country, you will see that work is ongoing on roads, power, bridges and other areas. These are really important building blocks for the Nigerian economy. For us to really become competitive, we have to have good transport links; it is very important for the movement of goods across the country efficiently and readily. Look at the road sector, when we came in, it was N90 billion that was invested in the sector in 2015. In 2016, we invested N304 billion on roads.

    “So, there has been a new step, which is changing our capital projects. This is the foundation we have identified with more opportunities. All this opportunities are not limited to oil, but spread across the nation. That is why you see projects spread across the nation. For me, that has been one of the biggest changes.”

    President Buhari has also been hailed for his courage in attempting to recover some of the country’s looted funds from key officials of the immediate past administration. Ubani acknowledges that some sort of fight against corruption is taking place; at least as far as members of the opposition are concerned. He said: “Prominent government officials talk about it everywhere they go; they are giving the world the impression that they are fighting corruption.

    “The good aspect of it is that the issue of corruption has been put on the front-burner. It occupies discussion everywhere. The continuous reference to the issue of corruption, to me, is very good. The only thing is that they have not been able to deal with allegations against their members that are accused of corruption. I hope they will listen to the advice of some of us who are advocating an all-out war against corruption in Nigeria, because it is not a one-man fight; all Nigerians must be involved.

    “For us to sustain this war against corruption there must be institutions and there must be policy directions, to champion it, so that no matter who is in power. But, for putting it on the front-burner, I give kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari.”

    On the economy, Ubani said the administration has not done badly. His words: “On the economy, I would score the government average. We have been able to record some savings in our foreign exchange reserves. This is because the culture of doing things with impunity has reduced drastically. One acknowledges the fact that some stealing is still going on, even under this government, but it is done in a coded manner.

    “On agriculture, they have recorded a pass mark, by making Nigerians to go back to farming and the result has been tremendous. Nevertheless, the activities of the herdsmen are impacting negatively on the government’s policy on agriculture, because a lot of farms have been destroyed by the herdsmen.

    “Aside from the glimmer of hope we are seeing in agriculture, the prospects of the economy are still very gloomy. The government is still paying so much to subsidize petrol and the unemployment rate is on the rise. We have not been able to attract new investments in the past three years; we cannot point to a single new one — either institutional or individual — that we have attracted since then. The economy has virtually turned many Nigerians into beggars. I receive an average of five financial requests every day and that tells you the level we have descended to.”

    All told, the Buhari administration believes it has not done badly in the last three years, considering what it met on ground when it took over in 2015. One spokesman after another have maintained that the damage done to the economy “in the years of plunder” was massive and that government was doing its best to recover some of the loot.

    Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the President, Malam Garba Shehu, listed some of the administration’s achievements in the last three years as follows: “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 10 consecutive months during 2017 (February to November). The naira stabilised against the dollar, after the Central Bank introduced a new foreign exchange window for investors and exporters. The stability has attracted billions of dollars in portfolio investments since April 2017.

    “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 per cent.

    “Nigeria saw bumper food harvests, especially in rice, whose local production continues to rise significantly (states like Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano are 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 50 per cent as local production has gone up.”

    Shehu said 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. He added: “Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves grew $40 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.’’

    Under Buhari, revenue-generating agencies have been making massive returns. For instance, the Nigeria Customs Service recorded its highest-ever revenue collection, crossing the N1 billion mark. The target for 2017 was N770 billion; 2016 collection was N898.6 billion. Similarly, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), under the new management appointed by President Buhari in 2016, remitted N7.8 billion to the coffers of the Federal Government. The total amount remitted by JAMB between 2010 and 2016 was N51 million.

  • 2019: Northern Pentecostal churches give Buhari conditions

    Church leadership from the north has warned President Muhammadu Buhari to end the seemingly intractable killing by herdsmen in the country or risk his re-election ambition.

    Under the aegis of the Northern States Pentecostal Bishop’s Forum of Nigeria ( TNSPBFN), the clergyme, while expressing reservation over the anti corruption efforts of the government however regretted that human capital and infrastructural development under the current administration has not been impressive.

    They also said efforts of the government would remain incomplete until the Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok girls are released from the captivity of  Boko Haram insurgents.

    The 15 Bishops at a news conference yesterday in Abuja said since the advent of the 4th Republic in 1999, the nation’s political leadership has failed to rise up to the occasion,  in salvaging the battered pride of our dear nation.

    Chairman of the forum, Archbishop John Daniel, who was flanked by the others said, “At  no time was this most evident than in the current dispensation in which nepotism, abuse of power and flagrant disregard for the rule of law have been elevated to a higher pedestal.

    “Indeed, our gradual descent into the Hobbesian state of nature, where might is right and violation of human rights becomes the norm rather than the exception, thereby rendering life nasty, brutish and short, elicits great concerns and calls for urgent remediation actions”.

    They said herdsmen attack must stop in the Northeast and dealt with decisively, else, the re-election ambition of the President might suffer.

  • We won’t let Nigerians down, Buhari promises

    I am happy to join the array of eminent Nigerians present here today, as we celebrate the 2018 Nigeria democracy day which marks the 3rd year of this administration and to reflect on the progress we have made in our democratic journey and governance in the last three years.

    A government elected by the people, must continually be in touch with the aspirations of the people and work for their highest possible good.

    The theme of this year’s celebration “Peace building and good governance for sustainable development” has been carefully selected to reflect our current opportunities and challenges.

    We have experienced rough times, but through good governance we have not allowed ourselves to be overawed by the existing of challenges.

    Weak governance is often at the core of rising inequality and unequal development resulting in social disruption and political unrest with negative impacts on growth and development.

    Accordingly, we have engaged in several rounds of dialogue and town hall meetings, targeted at peace building, between the aggrieved and in some cases warring factions and communities. We have worked hard to dialogue with and if they turn unreasonable decimate insurgents in various parts of the country.

    We are still grappling but successfully, with border disputes and restoring the much needed peaceful co-existence amongst our people and neighbouring countries. The rebuilding of the North East is ongoing, to return our internally displaced brothers, sisters and children to their ancestral homes.

    Our resolve to fight corruption was informed by the realisation that reducing corruption and ensuring the effective and just utilisation of public resources, are crucial for achieving sustainable growth and development in Nigeria. Corruption has been at the root of most of the development challenges of our country. There can be no progress in any facet of our national life unless we tackle and curb corruption.

    Good governance is the polar opposite to corruption. Accordingly, we will not relent in our efforts to eliminate it regardless of the opposition.  It manifests itself in several forms including accelerating poverty, conflicts and civil disturbances, as those who feel short-changed, resort to violence and destruction.

    The security in the country today has considerably improved against the background of what we met in May 2015. Incidences of bombings in towns and villages have been drastically curtailed, series of plots have been averted and stopped and culprits arrested through the vigilance, patriotism and professionalism of our security agencies. The entire country has been freed from occupation of any of its parts by insurgents.

    While we grieve with our compatriots who have lost relatives and properties, we are unrelenting in equipping and preparing our troops to confront the agents of violence, who have been engaging in banditry and reckless killings in various parts of the country under whatever guise, until total victory is achieved. Again it is pertinent to note that insurgency and terrorism are world-wide phenomena affecting even the best policed nations.

    Our economy is on the mend. We have achieved a good number of our set objectives, notably increased food production and food security; increased economic diversification into sectors that were hitherto neglected or under-explored.

    Our foreign reserves have reached new heights and the outcome in respect of investments in infrastructure expansion are manifest everywhere.

    Overall, we are on track. I thank and commend all who have worked so hard with us to achieve these successes. I assure you that our people will continue to see and experience more progress, more prosperity and greater security.

    Finally, I call on Nigerians to remain steadfast and to keep faith with this administration, as we remain committed to peace building and good governance, to deliver the best of dividends of democracy to the Nigerian people.

     

  • Expectations from Buhari before 2019

    Next year’s general elections is expected to be a tough one for President Muhammadu Buhari. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN asked some Nigerians on their expectations from the President in the last lap of his tenure.

    WITH just one year to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure, there were mixed reactions on his performance. Some believe the government has achieved a lot in the last three years, given the battered economy it inherited from the previous administration. They commended the Buhari administration for working assiduously to rescue the nation from economic recession that had inflicted economic hardship on Nigerians within a record time; decimation of Boko Haram terrorists that had taken over certain parts of the country before it came to power; and its commitment to the fight against corruption. However, critics have berated the All progressives Congress (APC) government for what they described as reneging on its campaign promises. They cited insecurity all over the country and nepotism in political appointments.

    Expectations of Nigerians for the remaining one year are varied. Secretary General, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr Anthony Sani, implored President Buhari to live up to his national broadcast promise that the 2018 budget would be used to improve the quality of life of the Nigerian people through provision of infrastructure.

    His words: “My expectations in the last lap of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure is for him to live up to the promise of his national broadcast where he promised this year’s budget would be used to improve the volume and quality of infrastructural development and stem insecurity across the nation.

    “Now that the budget has been passed, Nigerians expect works on infrastructure to start in earnest and move at a fast rate. This would enable Nigerians have confidence in his ability to live up to his promises and return him to continue as president for second tenure.”

    He recalled that Buhari promised to fight insecurity, corruption and revamp the economy.  The ACF scribe noted that of the three campaign promises, “priority is necessarily on taming insecurity and corruption. This is because no economy can thrive amid insecurity and unbridled corruption. In my opinion, the Buhari regime has done creditably well in weakening the capacity and capability of the insurgence to launch attacks across the North reminiscent of the past to now a level that normal life has since returned to most parts of the North, except perhaps in the fringes of Northeast where the insurgents still aim at soft targets.

    “One therefore, expects government not to rest on its oars in its determination to extirpate the insurgence; though we all know that hard power of military might alone cannot cannot wipe away insurgence completely.”

    Lawyer and human right activist, Mr Monday Ubani, upbraided the government over what he described as senseless killings of innocent Nigerians by the herdsmen. He acknowledged the government efforts in decimating the Boko Haram insurgents. He said: “The gains made in tackling Boko Haram had been wiped out by the herdsmen killings, especially in the Northcentral. The Buhari administration should sit down and tackle the issue of insecurity.”

    Another lawyer, Mr Wale Afolabi, also called on President Buhari to focus more on security, particularly killings by Fulani herdsmen, adding that the primary responsibility of government is to secure lives and property.

    Afolabi said the regime has spent most of the three years fighting insurgence and corruption and that the last year should be spent to provde infrastructure such as roads, rail and other important projects, in line with the change mantra of his administration.

    He enjoined President Buhari to intensify the good work he is doing in the area of provision of infrastructure. He said: “If I have the opportunity of talking to him, I will tell him to brace up on security of lives and property, because there can be no development without peace.”

    On clashes between herdsmen and farmers and kidnapping , Sani said he believes the Buhari regime has its own plan on how best it can give those inspiring the clashes and kidnapping the same treatment it gave to Boko Haram.

    On the fight against corruption, he advised the government to step up efforts by ensuring quick investigation and prosecution of corrupt cases, in order to disabuse the minds of doubting Thomases.

    Afolabi added: “The judiciary should be made to understand that no matter how good the laws may be, the usefulness to the society have more to do with the judgment of the people on the bench. Judges should deliver on substantive evidence rather than the prevailing technical justice that likens judiciary to a spider’s web which catches small flies and let go the big ones.”

    On power supply, Ubani urged the government to lay a proper foundation for the power sector, with regards to generation and distribution. He said the distribution companies are frustrating government’s efforts in ensuring constant power supply. He said these companies were not ready to invest, but to make money at the expense of power consumers. He said government’s directives that all power consumers must be given pre-paid meters has been flouted by the discos because estimated billings favour them.

    Ubani also advised the government to create enabling environment for foreign investments. He said the rate of unemployment in the country can be reduced if the foreigners are encouraged to come and set up business in Nigeria. “If there are job opportunities, the level of criminality and agitations would reduce,” he added.

    But, an economist, Dr Abdullahi Aminu, said the Buhari administration should not be blamed for the country’s economic woes, saying it was an accumulation of mismanagement by previous governments. Rather, he said he enjoined Nigerians to applaud the government for taking the country out of recession. Again, he applauded the government for the diversification of the economy, through development of agriculture, saying Nigeria is producing rice in commercial quantity for the first time.

    However, Aminu wants the government to create enabling environment for the local manufacturers to operate. He said the small scale and medium manufacturing companies are the largest employer of labour after government. The major problem of the manufacturers is power supply. They operate on diesel which is not profitable to them.

    Sani also commended the government on the management of the economy. He said: “So far, so good in the management of the economy, considering the recession set in the third quota of 2015 and the government worked hard to exit it. Now that Nigeria has recession and both price and volume of production of crude oil have improved, one expects the government would use any increase in revenues to bring about improvement in the life of the majority of Nigerians.

    Buhari was also commended for his unwavering attitude in the fight against corruption.

    Aminu described fight against corruption as the hallmark of the Buhari administration. He said it was the first time the government is waging war against corrupt practices. He said government has recorded tremendous success in the anti-graft war.

    He recalled that soon after Buhari assumed office, some officials of the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan started returning some of the loots they carted away. Some of them reportedly agreed to do so in the interest of Nigeria. Besides, he said, many discoveries have been made through the efforts of the anti-graft agencies.

  • Buhari, Tinubu, governors to storm Epetedo for MKO

    The Coalition for a Better Nigeria, an alliance of hundreds of pro-democracy organisations, is organising its seventh national discourse, titled: 2018/2019 Elections and a Careful Search for a Better Nigeria.

    It will be discussed by a legal luminary/human rights activist, Gbenga Awosode, on June 11, at Eleganza Sports’ Centre, old Epetedo Hall, Lagos Island Local Government Development Area (LCDA), at 11 am.

    The discourse is to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the late Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola’s self-declaration as president-elect, on June 11, 1994, at Epetedo Hall.

    Chairman of the occasion is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. President Muhammadu Buhari is the special guest of honour.

    Osun and Oyo State Governors Rauf Aregbesola and Abiola Ajimobi as well as Ekiti State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Kayode Fayemi, will be guests of honour.

    Father and Mother of the Day are: Senator Biyi Durojaiye and Prof Sophie Oluwole.

    The chief host and Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will get Architect of Modern Lagos Award in the form of a beautifully carved Eyo masquerade.

    It is a follow-up to the Father of Modern Lagos Award bestowed on Asiwaju Tinubu last year during the sixth national discourse.

     

  • Jega to Buhari: Take anti-graft campaign beyond embezzlement

    The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Monday charged President Muhammadu Buhari to take his anti-corruption campaign beyond embezzlement.

    He made the call while speaking on “Peace Building and Good Governance for Sustainable Development in Nigeria” at the 2018 Democracy Day Lecture in Abuja.

    Jega specifically charged President Buhari to beam his anti-corruption searchlight on National Assembly committee chairmen who asked for bribe to pass budgets of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and when they go on oversight function.

    Also calling for total reform of the public service, the ex-INEC chief urged the present administration to avoid the fire brigade approach in handling the herdsmen/farmers crises among other security challenges in the country.

    He also INEC is presently facing challenges that could mar the 2019 general election.

    He said one of the challenges is violence, stressing that inability of the political parties to peacefully carry out internal elections will rub off on the 2019 elections when parties need to contend with one another.

     

     

  • Security Under Buhari’s Watch

    The first official covenant a leader makes with the people, on the first day of official function is security of lives and property of the citizenry.  It is neither negotiable nor subject to compromise under any guise.

    A law abiding and peaceful nation is the panacea to uninhibited development and prosperity. It is the primary essence of governance. And the capacity of the Armed Forces anywhere in the world is gauged by its capacity and competencies to assist the President to   defray internal and external aggressions against its country.  But the military abdicated on this basic constitutional responsibility under the last administration.

    And the consequences were quite grave. No Nigerian can agree less that Nigeria was on a precarious cliff of total breakdown of law and order, by May 2015, when President Buhari took the reins of office.

    Nigeria was literally and practically handcuffed by subsisting, budding,   consuming and persistently explosive acts of terrorism, local armed conflicts, militancy, violent separatists’ agitations, ethno-religious conflagrations and other insurrections. They did not only disturbingly assail and crippled Nigeria, but had morphed into threats to regional insecurity threats.

    Burdened by an extremely weak Military, prior to the ascension of the Buhari Presidency, Nigeria replaced its peaceful soul with almost everyday violence, deaths and agonies from terrorism. Dominantly at the home front, Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) obstinately pulled the cord of disunity and disintegration of Nigeria. It went paranoid and regrettably unchallenged in the organized atrocious acts and heinous crimes against Nigerians. But Buhari has smothered the fire.

    Also, an existing discontentment in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, unleashed very acerbic militancy,  greased by greed  and an insatiable appetite for dubious wealth by the elite. Very wild and bitter splinter militant sects emerged, with separate agendum and modus operandi, surprisingly, all pointing to an obscure reason-impoverishment of the Niger Delta, the proverbial cash cow of the country.

    Militants competitively registered resentments through bombing of oil installations or facilities, abductions of oil workers, oil theft and bunkering and other sublime acts of terrorism. Nigeria bled uninterruptedly under the fangs of militancy, as crude oil exploration dropped incredibly from 2.3 million barrels a day to 1.2 million barrels.

    Much more, the fear of constant violence, kidnappings and payment of ransoms on oil workers compelled the relocation of headquarters of International Oil Companies (IOCs) outside the Niger Delta to Lagos and other safer locations in Southern Nigeria. But President Buhari has laid the ghost of militancy to permanent rest.

    The general dreary insecurity portrait of the Southern region of the country was further amplified in the Southeast region. An assemblage of disparate armed gangs found a comfortable haven is the now outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). Led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, an abrasive bloodsucker,   the armed gangs tormented and terrorized innocent and law abiding citizens, killing and maiming opponents who expressed aversion to their style of secession agitations. They severally created conditions favorable to looting and perpetrating all acts of criminality with impunity. Again, Mr. President has castrated the terror sect into oblivion.

    Elsewhere in the North, the narrative was the same. The foreign and Iranian backed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) or the Shiites in Nigeria, led by Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, operating under a bizarre religious ideology, antithetical to all known Islamic norms or doctrines, held dozens of Nigerians captive in cities and villages.

    The Shiites killed Nigerians at sight, including security agents,   during their weird or irreligious processions and brooked neither opposition nor resistance from any quarters. The Shiites have just discovered they cannot penetrate Nigeria under a Buhari Presidency.

    The pride of the nation was completely buried with the tempestuous rage of armed bandits and cattle rustlers in the Northwest. The deadly criminals sacked whole villages and communities, much as they prevented farmers from accessing their farms or traders and local businessmen from patronizing markets.

    Major highways became unsafe, as they ambushed passenger or commercial vehicles and murder commuters in cold blood and dissipate unmolested. But the region is now, a persona non grata for these armed criminals.

    The more than a decade’s violence on the Plateau raged with renewed vigor, expanding to unimaginable frontiers. In Plateau too, several communities were sacked and it was a celebrated killing mines for both indigenes and visitors to this once enviable tourist’s destination in Nigeria. Life largely became meaningless for most Nigerians. But peace has berthed on the Plateau.

    And specifically in Southern part of Kaduna state, old ethnic rivalries were resurrected and the strengths of feuding parties tested in bloodbath. The scenario has been duplicated in the Middle Belt region with the herders/farmers crisis, equally claiming hundreds of lives and causing awful destruction of properties. President Buhari has set the ball rolling to clear the last vestiges of these criminals.

    Glaringly, the capacity of civil security agencies could not contain the widespread anger on the land. Therefore, President Buhari, who immediately restructured and re-organized the Nigerian Military, deployed the military in aid of civil security. They were saddled with the onerous of quelling the burning fires of bloodbath across Nigeria and to restore peace and security to the people.

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and leader of the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai hit the ground running. He started by  re-professionalizing and re-organizing  the Nigerian Army, inculcating in  Army personnel the virtues of discipline, loyalty, patriotism and commitment to their constitutional and professional duties.

    Gen. Buratai’s first assignment saw him facing the conflagration of the Abubakar Shekau led Boko Haram. By December, 2015, barely five months of his action on the battlefield, Boko Haram insurgents were weakened and decimated. His troops also began the speedy recovery of nearly 24 LGAs under terrorists control in the Northeast and incredibly restricted the insurgents area of operations to just the Northeast, where they originated.

    By mid-2016, Nigerian troops had reclaimed all Nigerian territories under the captivity of Boko Haram, an action which was executed simultaneously alongside freeing of Boko Haram hostages enslaved in remote camps and caves.

    At the last count, the Nigerian Army had directly or indirectly rescued nearly 5,000 Nigerians held captive by insurgents, including a substantial number of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 and all the recently abducted 110 Dapchi schoolgirls. Among the rescued are children, women and the aged.

    Having effectively and courageously decimated Boko Haram terrorists, the Nigerian Army moved and defeated terrorists by the demystification of  Sambisa Forest in Borno state.  It was terrorists’ most fortified haven, where they retreated for shield, recuperated and planned fresh attacks on Nigerians. Sambisa is a shadow of its former dreary self, as the Army has transformed it with infrastructure.

    Soldiers penetrated Sambisa forest up to camp zero, killed scores of insurgents in  the exchange of gunfire. Abubakar Shekau was fortunate to escape, but soldiers recovered his copy of the Holy Koran and the Boko Haram flag, a sign of absolute defeat.

    The Army has engineered the voluntary surrender of dozens of Boko Haram top commanders and hundreds of their foot soldiers. Soldiers have also blocked avenues hitherto at the disposal of Shekau for the easy recruitment of fresh Nigerian foot soldiers. So, when Shekau yelled publicly about his frustrations with the war and preferring to surrender, soldiers had severely castrated him.

    Additionally, the Army under Gen. Buratai’s watch has expanded its infrastructure and amenities.  He has influenced the establishment of the first Nigerian Army University in Africa, located in Biu, Borno state; there is the Nigerian Army Aviation School and several others. The Army Chief has renovated and refurbished Army barracks and formations across the country, as well as railroaded the establishment of new military formations in Kaduna, Rivers, Zamfara, and the Northeast region among others.

    The Nigerian Army under its current leadership is the first to execute Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects to host communities, anywhere soldiers are deployed on special assignments. And it covers free Medicare, water supply, electricity and roads projects all over the country.

    Therefore,  in three years of battling Boko Haram by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, it’s now an  joy unspeakable that Nigeria has come out of its troubled  insecurity waters. It is safe and rightly too, to haughtily thump the chest and echo loudly that the Army has steered the ship of security to safety. And that it is still under the same leader who decades back conquered the Maitatsine insurgency,  is unspeakable and the exhilaration is indescribable among Nigerians.

    He is the ever calculative and focused President Buhari. He is the singular reason, every Nigerian and indeed the entire nation is proud to regale in the prevailing security in the country.   He has remained a worthy   guardian, an   inspiration and protective shield to Nigerians and   the Nigerian Army under Gen. Buratai. It is responsible for the marvelous results and victories over either internal or external terrorism acts against Nigeria.

    Kolawole PhD is a University lecturer and wrote from Keffi.

     

  • Buhari has delivered, says Lai Mohammed

    CRITICS of the Buhari administration’s performance got a reply yesterday.

    Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed compiled the administration’s scorecard in the last three years and gave it a pass mark. It has fulfilled its campaign promises, the minister said in a long reflection  on the government’s infrastructure battle, security, economy and the anti-corruption war.

    He said the administration kept its social contract with Nigerians and put the country on the path of sustainable growth.

    Mohammed, who spoke with reporters in Lagos, pointed out that concerted efforts had been made to halt the over-reliance on oil through the diversification of the economy.

    Noting that the Buhari administration inherited many intractable challenges which could inhibit performance, Mohammed stressed that these challenges were converted into opportunities to turn around the country.

    He said Nigerians, who have been impacted positively by the good work of President Muhammadu Buhari, were appreciative of the giant strides, based on the feedback to the government.

    Mohammed added: “They know that no government in the history of our country has ever done so much with so little. They know and acknowledge the sincerity, transparency and accountability of the Buhari administration. They know and support the administration’s diversification effort, which is paying off.”

    Describing President Buhari’s achievements as unprecedented, the minister said the administration has taken power generation to 7,000 megawatts from the 2690 it inherited, moved the country closer to self-sufficiency in rice production and reduced the leakages in government spending through the diligent implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Whistle Blowing Policy.

    Mohammed said in three years, 2.7 trillion Naira ($9 billion) had been spent on power, road and rail infrastructure, adding that the capital expenditure in the yearly budget had been raised to an unprecedented 30 per cent on the average.

    Tendering vital statistics, the minister pointed out that the economy has recorded a 1.95 growth in the first quarter, external reserves have hit $48 billion while inflation has fallen for the 15th consecutive month from 18.7 per cent to 12. 5 per cent.

    Hailing the government’s revenue drive, Mohammed said tax revenue increased to N1.17 trillion this year, following the rise of tax payers to 19 million.

    He also praised the “Ease of Doing Business Reforms”, which made Nigeria to move up 24 places on the World Bank’s ranking and earn a place on the “List of 10 Most Improved Economies’’.

    On infrastructural development, Mohammed said: “Road projects are on-going across every state of the country; many of these projects have been abandoned in recent years because of mounting debts owed by the Federal Government to contractors.

    “The Buhari administration issued a 100 billion naira Sukuk Bond in 2017, Nigeria’s first Sovereign Sukuk Bond. Proceeds from that Bond are funding 25 major road projects equally distributed across the six geo-political zones.”

    Mohammed added: “The administration is upgrading 3,500 km network narrow-gauge railway, with the signing, in April, of the interim phase of a concession agreement between the Government of Nigeria and an International Consortium, led by General Electric (GE). The target of this Interim Phase is that, within the next 12 months, passengers will experience reduced travel time by rail between Lagos and Kano, and for the first time in over a decade, contracted and scheduled freight rail services will be available.

    ”More than 70 Ecological Fund projects were awarded and completed by the Buhari administration across the six geo-political zones for flood control, erosion control, bridges and dams, channelisation and desilting.”

    Mohammed said before the end of the year, there will be more than 2,000 MW of additional power generation capacity, in addition to the 7,000 MW currently being generated.

    The minister noted that the Whistle Blowing Policy introduced by the Federal Ministry of Finance in December 2016 had led to the recovery of N13.8 billion from tax evaders, and N7.8 billion, $378 million and 27,800 million pounds from public officials.

    He said N8.1 trillion was discovered to have been under-paid to the Federation Account between 2010 and 2015 by revenue-generating agencies.

    Mohammed stressed: “MDAs are remitting more money to the Federation Account. From remitting only N51 million between 2010 and 2015, JAMB went on to remit N7.8 billion in 2017, and it is on course to remit a similar amount in 2018. As at March, the TSA had recorded inflow of N8.9 trillion from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”

    Mohammed applauded the administration’s commitment to security, saying that “to a large extent, security and normalcy have been restored to the Northeast”.

    He said the multi-national Joint Task Force (MNJTF) aimed at combating trans-border crime and the Boko Haram insurgency had been rejuvenated.

    Mohammed added: “El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club has returned to its home base in Maiduguri in April 2016, two years after relocating to Katsina State because of insurgency. Emirs of Askira and Uba returned home in May 2016, two years after fleeing their palaces on the account of the Boko Haram insurgency. Public primary schools resumed in Borno State on Monday September 26, 2016, after two years of closure. The Maiduguri-Gubio and Maiduguri-Monguno roads reopened in December 2016, after being closed for three years.”

    The minister also said that more than a million displaced persons had returned to their homes and communities in the Northeast since 2015, adding that more than 13,000 Boko Haram hostages were freed from captivity, including 106 of the abducted Chibok girls and 105 Dapchi girls.

    Mohammed, who lamented the incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes in the Northcentral, said the Joint Military Intervention Force (JMIF) was working to restore peace.

    He applauded the successful military operations against insecurity, including the Operation Lafiya Dole, Operation Hold Last, Operation Whirl Stroke, Exercise Crocodile Smile 1 and 11, Exercise Obangame, Operation Awatse, and Exercise Python Dance 1 and 11.

    The minister added: “There have also been major arrests of criminals across the country, including Usman Mohammed, aka Khalid Al-Barnawi, leader of the Ansaru Terrorist group and one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, with a US$6m United States bounty on his head. He’s being prosecuted alongside his suspected accomplices.

    “Amodu Omale Salifu, leader of an ISIS affiliate group active in North Central Nigeria, plotting to bomb foreign embassies; Ansaru leaders, Ahmed Momoh and Al-amin Mohammed Jamin, both confirmed associates of a prominent Ansaru kingpin terrorising residents in Kogi and Edo states.”

  • Buhari’s three-year scorecard

    President Muhammadu Buhari will be three years in the saddle by tomorrow. State House reporter AUGUSTINE EHIKIOYA writes on the impact of the Buhari-led administration on Nigerians.

    DISENCHANTED with the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigerians voted for a change of government and the symbol of that change is Muhammadu Buhari, who won the presidential election in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The inauguration of President Buhari on May 29, 2015 for four-year tenure rekindled the hopes and aspirations of many for a better Nigeriansere were great hopes and aspirations for a better Nigeria.

    With one more year to the expiration of the four-year contract, many Nigerians are expressing mixed feelings.

    To critics of the APC-led administration, Buhari has not lived up to expectation in the delivery of his campaign promises. They argue that Nigerians, who voted the PDP out of office, are yet to reap the much-expected dividends of democracy.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is at the forefront of those who have scored the government below average.

    In an open letter published in the media in January, Chief Obasanjo gave a damning verdict of poor performance on the Buhari government, alleging increasing poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty and tolerance of misdeeds.

    Stressing that there was lack of progress and hope for the future, the former president counselled Buhari not to seek reelection next year.

    But, to Buhari’s supporters, Nigeria has never had it so good. They argue that those opposed to the re-election of Buhari are those who plundered the nation’s commonwealth prior to the coming on board of the present administration.

    The said the Buhari’s administration should be commended and not condemned. A ruin of 16 years under the administration of the PDP cannot be fixed in three years.

    So far, it has been so good, they said, listing the achievements recorded in various sectors of the economy within the spate of three years.

    According to them, the administration has delivered on its key promises of anti-corruption fight, security and economy.

     

    Whistleblowing

     

    Under the whistleblowing policy, a whopping N13.8 billion was raked in from tax evaders, N7.8 billion, $378 million and £27,800 from public officials who were exposed by whistleblowers.

    The administration through its increased oversight on Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) has uncovered underpayment of N526 billion and attracted $21 billion to the Federation Account by revenue generating agencies between 2010 and 2015.

    While addressing the issue of poor levels of remittance of operating surpluses by MDAs, the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) remitted N7.8 billion last year as against the N51 million remitted between 2010 and 2016.

    Through the activities of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), 54,000 fraudulent payroll entries have been identified, with payroll savings of N200 billion.

    As at March, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) had recorded inflows of a total sum of N8.9 trillion from MDAs.

    The TSA has resulted in the consolidation of more than 17,000 bank accounts previously spread across commercial banks in the country and in savings of an average of N4 billion monthly in bank charges associated with indiscriminate government borrowings from the banks.

    The use of Bank Verification Number (BVN) to verify payroll entries on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform has so far led to the detection of 54,000 fraudulent payroll entries.

    To boost the anti-graft battle, Nigeria, which joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in July 2016 and became the 70th OGP country, has been elected to lead the OGP alongside Argentina, France and Romania. All four new members of the OGP Steering Committee will serve for three years beginning from October 1 this year.

     

    The Efficiency Unit

     

    The Buhari’s administration created the Efficiency Unit (EU) to spearhead the efficient use of government resources and ensure reduction in recurrent expenditure. The EU’s efforts have resulted in N17 billion in savings on travel, sitting allowances and souvenirs.

    With the quantum of stolen funds from the oil and gas sector, the Buhari’s administration pushed for oil and gas reform in line with best international practice,

    The controversial Offshore Processing Arrangement (OPA) was cancelled and replaced with a ‘Direct Sales and Direct Purchase (DSDP)’ scheme with reputable offshore refineries.

    The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) has been passed into law by the National Assembly. It is awaiting the assent of the President. The bill was in the National Assembly for 17 years.

    In 2016, the Federal Government exited the cash call arrangement by which the NNPC traditionally funded its share of the crude oil exploration and production Joint Ventures (JVs) with International Oil Companies (IOCs).

    The Cash Call obligations consistently put pressure on the government’s finances. A failure to fully fund them has resulted in the accumulation of debt arrears of $6.8 billion as at December 2015.

    Besides the achievements recorded in the fight against corruption, his supporters believe the administration has secured the country in the past three years.

    The critics, however, see the increasing herdsmen killings in the land since the beginning of this year as a dent on whatever achievement recorded on security.

    To fight insurgency in the Northeast, the government revitalised the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to combat trans-border crimes and the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The President’s camp disclosed that more than a million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) have returned to their homes and communities since 2015 in the Northeast, which they fled before this administration came into power.

    More than 13,000 Boko Haram hostages have been freed from Boko Haram captivity. They include 106 of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 and 105 of the Dapchi Girls abducted in February 2018.

    Under the Buhari administration, Boko Haram’s operational and spiritual headquarters “Camp Zero” in the dreaded Sambisa Forest was capture by troops in December 2016.

    Following the feat, the Nigerian Army conducted its Small Arms Championship from March 26 to 31 last year, in the forest, a measure aimed at enabling the Armed forces to dominate the area and avoid regrouping by the terrorists.

    As part of the achievements attained in security, public secondary schools resumed in Borno State on Monday September 26, 2016. It was two years after closure.  Arik Air also resumed flights to Maiduguri in May last year, three years after it suspended operations to the city.

    The Maiduguri-Gubio and Maiduguri-Monguno roads reopened in December 2016, after being closed for three years, while the Maiduguri-Bama-Banki Road was reopened in March 2018, four years after it was seized by Boko Haram.

    The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno State chapter was said to have declared the 2017 Easter celebrations in the state as the best and safest since 2009.

    With increased insecurity in the Northcentral, the government deployed a Joint Military Intervention Force (JMIF), comprising Regular and Special Forces personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy, the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security (DSS), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

    The administration recorded major arrests and dismantled other crime syndicates in the past three years.

    Though critics of the battered economy inherited in May 2015 is far from total recovery, the Buhari camp believe the economy is on a steady path of growth, especially after coming out of recession between 2016 and 2017 and with the 1.95 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate achieved in the first quarter of this year.

    They also believed that the administration’s priority sectors of agriculture and solid minerals maintained consistent growth throughout the recession because of the commitment to diversify the economy.

    Inflation has fallen for the fifteenth (15th) consecutive month, while external reserves have hit their highest levels in five years.

    The government claimed that the new Forex Window (FX) Window introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in April last year, now sees an average of $1 billion in weekly turnover. It has attracted about $45 billion dollars in inflows in its first year, signaling rising investor confidence in Nigeria.

    It also claimed that the stock market ended last year as one of the best-performing in the world with returns of about 40 per cent.

    About five million new taxpayers have been added to the tax base since 2016 as part of efforts to widen government revenue sources.

    Claiming that the tax revenue increased to N1.17 trillion in the first quarter a 51 per cent increase on the first quarter figure of last year, the N2.7 trillion spent on infrastructure in 2016 and 2017 budgets was unprecedented.

    The administration claimed that 14 moribund blending plants have so far been revitalised under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) with a total capacity of 2.3 million metri tonnes (MT) of NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer.

    The benefits included annual savings of $200 million in foreign exchange, and ¦ 60 billion annually in budgetary provisions for fertilizer subsidies.

    The scheme has also made it possible for farmers to purchase fertilizer at prices up to 30 per cent cheaper than previously available.

    The contributions of solid minerals to the federation account have tripled from N700 million in 2015 to N2 billion in 2016 and to N3.5 billion in 2017.

    President Buhari, who inherited N12.1 trillion in debt with N5.4 trillion annual service cost on the inherited debt, reduced the service cost to N3.9 trillion by 2016.

    Under Buhari, there was $7.3 billion in Eurobond issuances in 2017/18, to fund the 2017 budget and to refinance maturing Treasury Bills and lower the cost of borrowing for the government.

    This debt refinancing strategy is paying off as Treasury Bills rates have dropped from 16-18 per cent to 10-12 per cent over the last year.

    The oversubscription of the recent Eurobond (the first issuance in 2017 saw orders in excess of $7.8 billion compared to a pre-issuance target of $1 billion) have demonstrated strong market appetite for Nigeria and showed confidence by the international investment community in the country’ economic reform agenda.

    Nigeria’s first Sovereign Sukuk Bond, to fund 25 major road projects across the country; raised N100 billion, Diaspora Bond, Nigeria’s first ever Diaspora-targeted Eurobond, to fund part of the 2017 Budget; raised US$300m, while Green Bond, Africa’s first Sovereign Green Bond Programme, to fund infrastructure projects that tackle climate change; raised N10.69 billion.

    In the past three years, the Buhari administration extended more than N1.9 trillion to state governments, to enable them meet their salary and pension obligations, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues.

    The Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) introduced by the CBN substantially raised local production of rice in 2016 (yields improved from 2-3 tonnes per hectare to as high as 5 – 6 tonnes per hectare) and produced a model agricultural collaboration between Lagos and Kebbi states.

    Besides attracting over N300 billion investments in the Rice Value Chain, the ABP has encouraged the establishment of eight rice mills. It has doubled the country’s paddy production to 2014 levels.

    The milled rice production has increased from 2.5 MT to about four MT, while rice exports from Thailand to Nigeria have dropped from 1.23 million MT in 2014 to 23,192 MT by November last year.

    To boost the ease of doing business in Nigeria, the Buhari administration has issued three Executive Orders within a year. The orders have positively impacted the local small scale business environment.

    The administration has demonstrated a single-minded commitment to upgrading and developing the transport, power and health infrastructure.

    In May, the government launched the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), under the management of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. The PIDF is kicking off with seed funding of $650 million.

    In March, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) invested $10 million to establish a world-class Cancer Treatment Center at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and $5 million each in the Aminu Kano University Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia to establish modern Diagnostic Centres.

    It launched the N701 billion Payment Assurance  Programme (PAP) designed to resolve the liquidity challenges in the power sector by guaranteeing payments to Generating Companies (GenCos) and gas suppliers, transmission expansion and rehabilitation programmes.

    All these have resulted in a 50 per cent expansion in grid capacity since 2015 from 5,000 megawatts to 7,125 megawatts at December 2017.

    It is expected that more than 2,000 megawatts additional power generation capacity would be added by the end of this year.

    The Energising Economic Programme (EEP) was launched to bring reliable and efficient power to economic clusters and markets across the country.

    The Distribution Expansion Programme (DEP) was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in February to deliver 2,000 megawatts of unused power capacity to consumers.

    Scoring the administration high, Buhari promoters believe that the government has invested in people, ensured justice reform, improved diplomacy and international relations and enthroned new vision for the Niger Delta region in the past three years.

    They, however, added that with the support of the people, more progress would be made in the next 12 months.

     

  • Buhari to governors: support your wives’ humanitarian activities

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has advised state governors to support their wives’ humanitarian activities.

    He spoke when wives of state governors visited him under the auspices of the Northern and Southern Governors Wives Forum at the Presidential Villa at the weekend.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Director of Information to his wife, Suleiman Haruna, hailed the governors’ wives for the humanitarian activities they are carrying out in their states.

    Assuring them of his support, he said he would canvass more moral and financial supports for them.

    He said: “I appreciate the role you are playing as your work helps in pricking the conscience of the people.”

    The President specifically hailed their work on the IDPs and disadvantaged children as well as the fight against drug abuse.

    Buhari also encouraged them to interface with Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Agriculture over new and existing opportunities so that women farmers and entrepreneurs can take advantage of them.

    The President’s wife, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, underscored the complementary role that wives of governors play in supporting the programmes and policies of their husbands.

    She stressed on the need for the governors to encourage them.

    Mrs. Buhari highlighted areas where efforts are more pronounced as girl-child education, child abuse, women and youth empowerment and health promotion.

    “As mothers of the states, wives of governors have the ears of women and youths; this is so because they run programmes that directly touch these categories of Nigerians,” she said.

    She urged the President to support their work.

    Chairperson, Northern Governors Wives Forum and Bauchi State governor’s wife, Mrs. Hadiza Abubakar, said apart from issues of maternal health and girl-child education, the flagship programme of the forum is prevention of substance abuse, for which they rally stakeholders to come to a holistic solution.

    She lauded the ban on codeine-containing cough syrups, describing it as a major breakthrough.

    The forum, she stated, is advocating for the revival of moribund drug rehabilitation centres and the establishment of new ones in states that did not have them.

    Chairperson, Southern Governors Wives Forum and Imo State Governor’s wife, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, said their activities take a cue from the works of Mrs. Buhari’s Future Assured Programme and focuses on issues of cultism, kidnapping, child labour, baby factories and youth restiveness.

    She said the forum had trained 1,000 women in different skills and 2000 school children were supported with educational materials.

    Highlight of the event were presentations to the President by the two leading governors’ wives.