Dear Great People of our nation,
I greet and felicitate with you all as we
enter the New Year today. As we mark the beginning of this New Year,
2015, a new nation is being born. A new nation is being born because of
the foundations we have all laid, working together for the good and
progress of our dear fatherland.
I join you all in thanking God Almighty who
has brought us this far, for continually bestowing His Grace upon us and
for guiding our great nation safely through all the challenges of the
past year.
This year, as in the year past, I reaffirm my
commitment to work to ensure a secure future for our dear country and
the generations yet unborn.
Last year, we celebrated our hundredth year
of nationhood. The year brought us further progress, challenges and
fresh opportunities.
We have contended with the normal challenges of nation-building and the unusual challenges of terrorism.
But we have continued to vigorously confront those who seek to destroy the bonds of unity that hold us together.
On this first day of the New Year, I want to
pay special tribute to the gallant officers, men and women of our Armed
Forces and other security agencies who have been in the forefront of the
war against terrorism and violent extremism in our country and
sub-region.
I also commend all Nigerians who have
remained vigilant and cooperative with our security agencies in the
fight against the common enemy.
We are re-equipping and re-positioning our
armed forces to enhance their capacity to win the ongoing war against
terror and insurgency.
Regrettably, terrorists have unleashed much
pain and agony on our land. They have made widows of our mothers and
sisters and orphans of our children. They have shut down businesses,
desecrated places of worship and brought untold hardship to both men and
women. They have violated the culture and peaceful way of life in our
country, which took generations to build.
They have destroyed countless schools and displaced people from their communities, driving them into exile.
I want to assure you that the terrorists will
not get away with their atrocities: they will not win; they will be
routed. As President, I feel the pain of all affected communities and
families. I hear their cries and share their sorrow and pain.
We will not forget; we will not look the
other way. We have done a lot of painstaking planning and work to
resolve the current security challenge. We will bring justice to the
savage terrorists known as Boko Haram. They will be defeated.
That is the solemn commitment I make today as President of the Federal Republic, and Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.
By the Special Grace of God, the Federal
Government, under my leadership, has continued, in the past four years
to lead our country forward, even under the most trying circumstances.
The progress we have made in priority areas bears us testimony.
Amongst other achievements, we have
rehabilitated and expanded our rail transportation network, successfully
privatized power generation and distribution, significantly reformed
and increased local participation in our oil and gas industry, and
improved nationwide access to potable water from 57% in 2010, to 70% at
present.
We have also made significant progress in
improving access to primary, secondary and tertiary education by
building and equipping more schools, including special Almajiri schools,
and establishing additional universities to ensure that each state of
the nation now has at least one Federal University.
Our national economy maintained a steady
growth rate of close to seven per cent in the past four years and
millions of fresh employment opportunities were created for our people
as a direct consequence.
Recently, we launched the Youth Employment in
Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and the $100 million dollars Government
and Donor Fund for Agriculture Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) to fast-track
the positive transformation of our agricultural sector.
The Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme
(YEAP) targets 750, 000 market-oriented young agricultural producers
while the $100 million dollars Fund is to provide affordable long-term
financing to support the development of small and medium agribusinesses
in the country.
This is in addition to a N50 billion Farm
Mechanization Support Fund set up by the Central Bank to establish 1,200
agricultural equipment-hiring enterprises.
Both funds will become fully operational this
year. Policies and programmes such as these to boost agricultural
production remain topmost on the agenda of this administration.
Being very conscious of the inherent perils
of our over-reliance on income from crude oil exports for national
development, we have focused on accelerating the diversification of our
economy.
The non-oil Sector which has grown by an average of 8% in the last few years, is now a major driver of growth in our economy.
The 2015 national budget, which is now before
the National Assembly, is targeted at deepening our efforts at becoming
a non-oil economy.
The budget also includes measures to ensure
that the downturn in the price of oil does not affect our development
plans and our national economy too adversely. We are adjusting our
financial processes to safeguard our economy. We are also taking steps
to ensure that the poor and the low and medium income earners do not
bear the brunt.
In 2015, this administration will continue to
lay the foundation for a vibrant economy that attracts significant
Foreign Direct Investment and promotes policies that ensure economic
stability.
We will ensure stability in the value of the
Naira by striving to take away speculative behaviours that cause market
exchange pressures.
We will continue to build and maintain a
healthy external reserves position and strengthen fiscal buffers. We
will ensure the Naira remains strong, and gives foreign investors the
clarity and certainty that they need, to guide future investment
decisions.
We will continue to improve our payment
systems and strengthen risk-based supervision mechanism for Nigerian
banks to ensure overall health and stability of the banking system.
We are introducing a broad spectrum of
financial instruments to boost sector-specific enterprise areas in
agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs),
manufacturing, and oil and gas to enhance our aggregate supply capacity,
reduce poverty, promote job creation and increase the general
well-being of our people.
These efforts and other measures being
spearheaded by relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, are geared
to ensure a secure future for Nigeria and create a much more prosperous
country, where people live more peaceful and fulfilled lives.
Fellow countrymen and women,
As we enter an election year, I assure you
that our administration will remain fully focused on providing good
governance and the delivery of better public services to our people.
The coming campaigns and elections will not
distract us from our ongoing work to significantly improve the living
conditions of our people. And I urge all tiers of government not to be
distracted as well.
The elections are very important for us as a
country. Their successful conclusion will further strengthen our
democratic institutions and place our beloved country even more firmly
in the comity of truly democratic nations.
Given the challenges that have characterized
some previous electoral contests in our country, the eyes of the world
will certainly be on the conduct and outcome of our fifth post-military
rule general elections.
I reassure all Nigerians and the
international community of our firm commitment to free, fair and
credible elections. My commitment to free elections and one man, one
vote remains unwavering.
Our administration has worked hard in
previous elections to prepare all key stakeholders including the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and
the electorate optimally, to ensure a progressively improved electoral
process in the country under my watch. We will continue to do so for
the coming elections.
We will continue to provide adequate funding
to INEC and maintain the Commission’s independence and isolate it from
any form of interference or meddling in its day-to-day affairs. This
shall continue to guarantee its impartiality and ability to conduct more
credible and acceptable elections.
National security agencies will also be given
all necessary support to enhance their ability to ensure that the
elections are peaceful and violence-free. The Nigeria Police has already
established an Elections Security Planning and Monitoring Unit.
I am optimistic that with the cooperation of
all law-abiding citizens of the country, our commitment to have a
peaceful and violence-free election will be actualised.
I will like to say this, once again, to my
fellow politicians and political leaders. None of our political
ambitions is worth the blood of any of our countrymen, women and
children. The improvement of their lives and living conditions ought to
be our primary motive and the driving force of our quest for political
power and leadership positions.
Let us not promote sectionalism, disunity,
intolerance, hate, falsehood or the malicious abuse of political
opponents. Whatever we feel or seek, we must have a nation and a people
before we can dream of political ambitions. Let us put the nation and
the people first.
Let us all conduct our electoral campaigns
with the highest possible decorum and civility towards political
opponents. Let us give INEC the fullest possible support and cooperation
it requires to conduct credible and violence-free elections in 2015.
After the 2011 general elections, some
unpatriotic elements embarked on an orgy of violence, resulting in the
destruction of lives and property. That will not be allowed to happen
this time around. This government will act decisively against anyone who
disrupts the public peace, before, during or after the 2015 general
elections.
All Nigerians, of voting age, are free to
vote based on their convictions. It is our duty to defend and protect
that basic right, and let no one be in doubt, we will.
Fellow Nigerians, I urge all of you to enter
the New Year with renewed zeal and patriotism, to serve our fatherland
with love, honesty, faithfulness and hope for a greater tomorrow.
As I have always maintained, none of the
challenges before us is insurmountable. We must come together as a
people and work with single-minded unity of purpose to overcome them.
Nigeria is a key country in Africa. We must
work together to maintain our strategic position and collaborate with
others to move the continent forward. I call for peace in Africa and an
end to all conflicts in our continent. I urge all Africans to promote
democracy in their respective countries to ensure faster development of
the continent and faster economic and political integration.
We will continue to pray and offer hands of
fellowship and assistance to our fellow Africans suffering from the
Ebola Virus Disease. I urge all Nigerians to show compassion and
contribute in whatever way we can to help our African brothers and
sisters.
As we go into this New Year, I salute the
indomitable and resilient spirit of our people in Nigeria and wherever
they are in the world. Our spirit of enterprise and the doggedness to
succeed amongst all odds has been our strength.
With our collective prayers and efforts, we
will grow our economy and our people will become wealthier. Government
will continue with programmes deliberately designed to create more jobs
for our youth, to enable them contribute more to the growth and
development of our nation.
Let us continue our march to the future,
towards the attainment of our collective vision of a strong, united,
prosperous and harmonious nation – a secure nation for us and for our
coming generations.
I wish you all a happy and fulfilling 2015.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Happy New Year, Nigeria!
I thank you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment