Our 6-year records demystified naysayers – FG

 

The federal government has said its performance in all sectors of development in the last six years has shamed critics of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and demystified the naysayers on the resolve to take Nigeria to the next level.

Reeling out the mid-term report of the All Progressives Congress(APC)-led government at a press conference in Abuja Tuesday,  Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said  the naysayers decided to close their eyes to the tremendous achievements recorded in the last six years.

The minister said,  to prove to Nigerians the administration had taken the country from Change when it took over power in 2015 to the Next Level which it promised the people, government has decided to release a documentary through video footages of the various efforts to make life conducive for everyone.

The new strategy

He said government decided to mark this year’s anniversary in a new style and strategy with a view to availing Nigerians quality information about the modest efforts in making life meaningful for the citizenry.

“To mark this anniversary, we have decided to, once again, change our strategy. Since 2016, we have heralded every anniversary, as well as every end of year, by giving massive publicity to the achievements of the Administration. We have leveraged our Town Hall Meetings, 18 of which we have held up to day, to showcase the achievements. We have also undertaken media tours of federal government projects covering many sectors across the country.

“In the run up to the 2019 general elections, we introduced a novel idea when we launched our ‘Testimony Series’, under which we showcased the Administration’s achievements from the perspective and prism of Nigerians who have benefitted from the various government projects and programmes, ranging from infrastructure to school feeding system. The ‘Testimony Series’ was so successful that it rattled the opposition into issuing a statement calling for a probe of the funds spent on it.

“This year, 2021, which marks the half-way point of the second and final term of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration, we have decided to once again change our style for more effectiveness. Our new strategy is to suffuse the airwaves and the social media with unmistakable video evidence of the various achievements, to such an extent that even the blind can ‘see’ and the deaf can ‘hear’.

“The documentary, which will be updated from time to time until the end of the Administration’s tenure, covers roads, rail, housing, power, aviation, agriculture, ports, bridges, health, fight against Covid-19, water resources and the economy generally.

“Let me repeat what I have said many times in the past: Never in the history of our country has any Administration done so much with so little. It’s easy to forget now, but when this Administration came into office in 2015, the price of crude oil, which provides 80 per cent of Nigeria’s budgetary revenues and 95 per cent of foreign exchange earnings, dropped drastically and, along with it, the fund available to the government. It is therefore monumental that this Administration has achieved so much despite the paucity of fund,” the minister said.

On some of the projects

He listed some of the projects undertaken by the present administration, noting that while work had been completed on many of the projects, work was still ongoing on others. The projects include roads and railways infrastructure, security, agriculture, ports among others.

Mohammed said the 156km Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail is nearing completion; 327km Itakpe-Warri Standard Gauge Rail completed and commissioned 33 years after construction began; while the Abuja Light Rail was completed in 2018.

He said ground-breaking was done for the construction of the Kano-Maradi Standard Gauge Rail; revamping of Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri Narrow Gauge Rail; while financing negotiation is ongoing for Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project.

 On road infrastructure, the minister said Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) “is investing over a billion dollars in three flagship projects; Lagos -Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway.

He said the “Executive Order 7 was explored in mobilising private investment into the development of key roads and bridges like Bodo-Bonny in Rivers and Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota in Lagos, while the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), a public-private partnership programme was entered into to mobilise, in its first Phase, over a Trillion Naira in private investment into the development and maintenance of 12 Roads, amounting to 1,963km in length while more than N360 billion worth of Sukuk Bonds raised since 2017 for dozens of critical road projects across all six geopolitical zones.”

 Security

 Speaking on insecurity, Lai said: “I want to state emphatically that while more attention has been given, especially in recent times, to the security challenges facing our country; those challenges are fleeting and will not define the legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Let me say that President Buhari’s legacy is assured, and will be defined by his massive achievements in office. The roads, rails, bridges, mass housing, port development, improvement in power supply and other massive infrastructural development will last for generations to come and will help propel economic growth and national development.”  

 He said the Air Force had acquired 26 brand new aircraft since President Buhari assumed office in 2015, and  expecting another 12 (the twelve Super Tucano currently on order from the United States Government, due for delivery starting July 2021).

The NAF is also locally re-activating several previously unserviceable planes, the minister added.

Similarly, he said: “The Nigerian Navy has acquired close to 400 new platforms since 2015, including 172 Riverine Patrol Boats (RPBs), 114 Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs), 2 Seaward Defence Boats (SDBs), 12 Manta Class/Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC), 3 Whaler Boats, 4 Barges / Tug Boats, 22 Fast Attack Boats, 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), 4 Helicopters, 14 River Town Class, 14 House Boats and 4 Capital Ships.”

 “In line with the president’s directive, the Nigerian Navy has established a Naval Base Lake Chad in Baga, Borno state, as well as deployed 14 Naval Security Stations along the nation’s coastline in areas prone to criminal activity.

“President Buhari signed into law, in 2019, the Bill establishing the Police Trust Fund, which will significantly improve funding for the Nigeria Police Force. Nigeria Police Force launched a new National Command and Control Center in Abuja in 2019,” he said.

Ports

The minister  also spoke on the completion of the new terminals for international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt; construction of new runway for Abuja and Enugu International Airports; presidential approval for four International Airports as Special Economic Zones: Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt as well as the approval for new private-sector funded deep sea ports, including the Lekki Deep Sea Port (construction already well underway, for completion in 2022); Bonny Deep Sea Port (ground-breaking done in March 2021); Ibom Deep Sea Port; and the Warri Deep Sea Port.

Development of Eastern Ports

He further said: “In December 2017, Calabar Port commenced export of bulk cement to Tema Port in Ghana; in 2019, three container ships berthed at Calabar Port, for the first time in eleven years; dredging of Warri Port (Escravos Bar—Warri Port channel) completed in 2018.

“On October 30, 2019, an LPG Tanker operated by NLNG, berthed in Port Harcourt – the first time ever an LPG ship berthed in any of the Eastern Ports.

“On December 8, 2019, Onne Port received JPO VOLANS (owned by Maersk), the FIRST gearless and largest container vessel (265.07 metres) to call at any Eastern Port in Nigeria. On August 1, 2019, Onne Port’s Brawal Terminal received MSC GRACE, its first container vessel since 2012.

Agriculture

On agriculture, he said: “The Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, has made more than 300 billion Naira to more than 3.1 million smallholder farmers of 21 different commodities (including Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Cassava, Poultry, Soy Beans, Groundnut, Fish), cultivating over 3.8 million hectares of farmland.

“Launched as a government-to-government partnership between the Nigerian and Moroccan Governments, in December 2016, the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) produced 12million 50kg bags of NPK 20:10:10 equivalent in 2020, bringing total production since inception to over 30 million 50kg bags equivalent; and number of participating blending plants increased to 44 from three at inception.

“A partnership between FGN, AfDB Group, and other stakeholders, including IFAD and BOI. Under the SAPZ programme, agro-processing centres will be established across the country. The agro-processing centres will be provided with basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads as well as facilities for skills training. Seven (7) States and the FCT selected for the pilot phase, due to commence 2021: Ogun, Oyo, Imo, Cross River, Kano, Kaduna, Kwara.

“The Green Imperative – a Nigeria-Brazil Agricultural Mechanisation Programme aimed at boosting agricultural production in Nigeria. The National Assembly has approved a loan for the financing of the program, which will involve the development of 632 privately-operated primary production (mechanisation) Service Centers and 142 Agro processing (value addition) service Centres across the 774 LGAs, and the reactivation of 6 privately owned partially-operational or moribund tractor assembly plants nationwide. It will also train 100,000 new extension workers,” he further said.