AS NIGERIANS CELEBRATE DEMOCRACY DAY TODAY, HERE IS THE FULL SPEECH OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON HIS FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE.
MY COMPATRIOTS,
IT IS ONE YEAR TODAY SINCE OUR ADMINISTRATION CAME INTO OFFICE. IT HAS
BEEN A YEAR OF TRIUMPH, CONSOLIDATION, PAINS AND ACHIEVEMENTS. BY AGE,
INSTINCT AND EXPERIENCE, MY PREFERENCE IS TO LOOK FORWARD, TO PREPARE
FOR THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD AND REDEDICATE THE ADMINISTRATION TO
THE TASK OF FIXING NIGERIA. BUT I BELIEVE WE CAN ALSO LEARN FROM THE
OBSTACLES WE HAVE OVERCOME AND THE PROGRESS WE MADE THUS FAR, TO HELP
STRENGTHEN THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE TO PUT NIGERIA BACK ON THE
PATH OF PROGRESS.
WE AFFIRM OUR BELIEF IN DEMOCRACY AS THE FORM OF
GOVERNMENT THAT BEST ASSURES THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION AND ACTUAL BENEFIT
OF THE PEOPLE. DESPITE THE MANY YEARS OF HARDSHIP AND DISAPPOINTMENT
THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION HAVE PROVED INHERENTLY GOOD, INDUSTRIOUS
TOLERANT, PATIENT AND GENEROUS.
THE PAST YEARS HAVE WITNESSED
HUGE FLOWS OF OIL REVENUES. FROM 2010 AVERAGE OIL PRICES WERE $100 PER
BARREL. BUT ECONOMIC AND SECURITY CONDITIONS WERE DETERIORATING. WE
CAMPAIGNED AND WON THE ELECTION ON THE PLATFORM OF RESTORING SECURITY,
TACKLING CORRUPTION AND RESTRUCTURING THE ECONOMY. ON OUR ARRIVAL, THE
OIL PRICE HAD COLLAPSED TO AS LOW AS $30 PER BARREL AND WE FOUND NOTHING
HAD BEEN KEPT FOR THE RAINY DAY. OIL PRICES HAVE BEEN DECLINING SINCE
2014 BUT DUE TO THE NEGLECT OF THE PAST, THE COUNTRY WAS NOT EQUIPPED TO
HALT THE ECONOMY FROM DECLINING.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE, NOTABLY
RAIL, POWER, ROADS WERE IN A DECREPIT STATE. ALL THE FOUR REFINERIES
WERE IN A STATE OF DISREPAIR, THE PIPELINES AND DEPOTS NEGLECTED.
HUGE DEBTS OWED TO CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS HAD ACCUMULATED.
TWENTY-SEVEN STATES COULD NOT PAY SALARIES FOR MONTHS. IN THE
NORTH-EAST, BOKO HARAM HAD CAPTURED 14 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, DRIVEN THE
LOCAL AUTHORITIES OUT, HOISTED THEIR FLAGS. ELSEWHERE, INSECURITY WAS
PALPABLE; CORRUPTION AND IMPUNITY WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. IN SHORT,
WE INHERITED A STATE NEAR COLLAPSE.
ON THE ECONOMIC FRONT, ALL
OIL DEPENDENT COUNTRIES, NIGERIA INCLUDED, HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING SINCE
THE DROP IN PRICES. MANY OIL RICH STATES HAVE HAD TO TAKE TOUGH
DECISIONS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ARE DOING. THE WORLD, NIGERIA INCLUDED HAS
BEEN DEALING WITH THE EFFECTS OF THREE SIGNIFICANT AND SIMULTANEOUS
GLOBAL SHOCKS STARTING IN 2014:
A 70% DROP IN OIL PRICES.
GLOBAL GROWTH SLOWDOWN.
NORMALIZATION OF MONETARY POLICY BY THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL RESERVE.
OUR PROBLEMS AS A GOVERNMENT ARE LIKE THAT OF A FARMER WHO IN A GOOD
SEASON HARVESTS TEN BAGS OF PRODUCE. THE PROCEEDS ENABLE HIM TO GET BY
FOR REST OF THE YEAR. HOWEVER, THIS YEAR HE COULD ONLY MANAGE 3 BAGS
FROM HIS FARM. HE MUST NOW THINK OF OTHER WAYS TO MAKE ENDS MEET.
FROM DAY ONE, WE PURPOSELY SET OUT TO CORRECT OUR CONDITION, TO CHANGE
NIGERIA. WE REINFORCED AND GALVANIZED OUR ARMED FORCES WITH NEW
LEADERSHIP AND RESOURCES. WE MARSHALED OUR NEIGHBOURS IN A JOINT TASK
FORCE TO TACKLE AND DEFEAT BOKO HARAM. BY THE END OF DECEMBER 2015, ALL
BUT POCKETS AND REMNANTS HAD BEEN ROUTED BY OUR GALLANT ARMED FORCES.
OUR IMMEDIATE FOCUS IS FOR A GRADUAL AND SAFE RETURN OF INTERNALLY
DISPLACED PERSONS IN SAFETY AND DIGNITY AND FOR THE RESUMPTION OF
NORMALCY IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THESE AREAS.
EFCC WAS
GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO PURSUE CORRUPT OFFICIALS AND THE JUDICIARY WAS
ALERTED ON WHAT NIGERIANS EXPECT OF THEM IN THE FIGHT AGAINST
CORRUPTION. ON THE ECONOMY, IN PARTICULAR FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND FUEL
SHORTAGES, OUR PLAN IS TO SAVE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BY FAST TRACKING REPAIR
OF THE REFINERIES AND PRODUCING MOST OF OUR FUEL REQUIREMENTS AT HOME.
AND BY GROWING MORE FOOD IN NIGERIA, MAINLY RICE, WHEAT AND SUGAR WE
WILL SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND DRASTICALLY REDUCE
OUR FOOD IMPORT BILL.
