The Presidency scored itself high on Saturday with the release of 57 achievements it attributes the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to celebrate 57 years of Nigeria’s independence.
A statement released by the Office of the Vice Presidents listed the achievements as follows:
Security
- Release of 106 Chibok girls, as well as over 16,000 persons in Boko Haram captivity.
- Tackling insurgency, decimation of Boko Haram in the North East.
- Recovering 14 local governments and territories previously under Boko Haram control in the North East, rebuilding lives of citizens there; about one million displaced persons in the NE have returned to their communities in two years of this administration.
- Curbing the incidence of kidnap across the country. (Arrest of kidnap kingpins and dismantling of kidnap cells across the country)
- Restoring morale of the Nigerian military; re-organizing and better equipping the Nigerian Armed Forces.
- Purchase of 12 Super-Tucano aircrafts worth $600 million to aid the Nigerian military’s current operations in the North East.
- Ensuring continued peace in the Niger Delta through consistent funding of the FG amnesty programme for ex-militants.
- Introduction of an improved mechanism for distribution of aid to IDPs in the North East through the establishment of the Special Intervention Programme of the Federal Government. (Door-to-door strategy)
Economy
- Implementing the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to aid economic recovery, taking the country out of her worst recession in 29 years, despite fall in oil prices.
- N1.2 trillion expended on capital/infrastructure projects nationwide, a milestone in the nation’s history.
- Effective implementation of the Treasury Single Account, and increasing government revenue by over N3 trillion as well as entrenching transparency and accountability.
- Implementation of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), thus tackling corruption by plugging loopholes for siphoning of public fund and tracking of illicit funds through multiple accounts
- Ease of doing business: the Federal Government signed into law two bills from the National Assembly (Acts are the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act, 2017 (otherwise known as Collateral Registry Act) and the Credit Reporting Act, 2017) which has facilitated access to more affordable credit for Nigerians, fast tracked budget submissions and promotes Made-in-Nigeria products.
- Establishment of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum to enhance interaction and private sector participation in the development of the economy.
- Institutionalizing E-governance setting the foundation for the creation of a truly digital economy.
- Creation of opportunities for youths to leverage innovation in technology through the introduction of the Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD) through which over N700 million has been disbursed to young entrepreneurs.
- The revitalization of the Made-in-Nigeria campaign. (Emphasis on consumption of local products gain grounds)
- Implementing reforms in the civil service which has led to the elimination of over 30,000 ghost workers, thereby saving the country billions of naira monthly.
- Massive investments in agriculture, e.g., Anchors Borrowers Programme to improve local produce, improving fertiliser distribution and access across states through the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.
- Reduction in rice imports as a result of government’s policies that has encouraged massive rice production across Nigeria.
- Improving transport infrastructure (rail and road); construction work ongoing on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, renovation of Abuja International Airport runway, completion of Abuja – Kaduna Railway among others.
- Social Investment Programmes (SIP): N-Power Volunteer Scheme creating jobs for over 200,000 (and still counting) unemployed graduates in all the 36 states and the FCT.
- SIP: Ongoing Government Enterprise and Empowerment (GEEP) Scheme; commenced in November 2016 in collaboration with the Bank of Industry, where soft loans ranging from N10, 000 to N100, 000 have been given to over 189,000 market women and traders across different states.
- SIP: Home Grown School Feeding Programme, where almost three million schoolchildren have been fed, while tens of thousands of cooks have been engaged in their respective states.
- SIP: Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme, under which about 25,000 less privileged Nigerians so far are now being funded with the monthly N5,000 stipend in 9 pilot States (Bauchi, Borno, Cross Rivers, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo). More beneficiaries are expected to be added in more states.
- The establishment of MSMEs Clinics, a small Business support programme to support entrepreneurs and small businesses in different states.
- Establishment of One-Stop-Shops to support policies on Ease of Doing Business.
- The take-off of the 2nd Niger Bridge.
- Phasing out subsidy for petroleum products, elimination of fuel scarcity and queues in petrol stations.
- Implementation of the FG Niger Delta new vision, a comprehensive road map to improve livelihood and social infrastructure.
- Improved power generation nationwide adding $500million to Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund and about $87million to its excess crude account.
- The creation of the N30billion Solid Minerals Development Fund.
- Encouraging the patronage of local contents and increasing export in agriculture.
- Signing of Executive Order 001 which is the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment – to ensure that public servants offer prompt service in a predictable and transparent manner, and sanction undue delays.
- Signing of Executive Order 002 which is on prompt submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies of the Federal Government including incorporated companies wholly owned by FG.
- Bailout of cash crunch states; about N689 billion to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries in 2015.
- Complete refund of Paris loan deductions to states (unprecedented).
- Implementing the 2011 UNEP report for the ongoing Ogoni clean-up process after decades of oil spills and pollution.
- Modification of the tax system so that it is more efficient.
- Reforms in the airports (reconstruction of the Abuja airport runway and ongoing work at the Lagos airport).
- Reforms at the nation’s seaports (Issues with cargo clearance at the ports addressed)
- Improved duration (under 48 hours) for visa approval especially for investors.
- Resuscitation of the nation’s refineries which are now working at 50 percent capacity for the first time in over a decade.44. Eleven of the dead 33 fertilizer plants have been resuscitated while four others are to be revived shortly and this has profound impact on the ongoing revolution in the agricultural sector.
- For the first time in more than 45 years, the Mambila Power Plant is set to take off with the allocation of $5.6billion for its realization and an expected 3,050 MW output upon completion.
- Increasing external reserves to a 13 month high of $33 billion from $29.13 billion which has surpassed the ERGPs target of $30.56 billion despite global low oil prices and production challenges.
- Cancellation of the Joint Venture cash calls with oil multinational companies operating in Nigeria (For the first time in the history of the industry) which has led to savings of billions of dollars lost to fictitious contract payments.
- Release of N2 billion take off grant for the Maritime University as part of measures to address agitations in the Niger Delta region.
- The new Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) is finally taking off with initial funding of $1.3billion (provided by the World Bank, German Development Bank, African Development Bank, Agence Francaise De Development) to provide medium and long term loans to MSMEs.
Anti-graft war
- Improving Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation with neighbouring countries in fighting insurgency.
- Anti-corruption war: Prosecuting alleged corrupt public officers and recovering billions of naira of stolen public funds; the successful establishment of the whistle-blower policy.
- Signing of Executive Order 004 – Voluntary Income Asset Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). This aims to increase tax awareness and compliance, and reduce incidence of tax evasion.
- Signing of agreements with a number of nations to provide Automatic Exchange of Information.
- Signing of the Extradition Treaty between Nigeria and United Arab Emirates (UAE) toward strengthening Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign.
- Establishment of PACAC – a think-tank that has provided leadership, direction and also built capacity of personnel in the fight against corruption.
Others
- Eradication of polio disease in the country.
- The introduction of the One Primary Health Centre per ward programme of the Federal Government.
