By Emmanuel Uffot
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his first new year speech since assumption of office on May 29, 2023 as President of Nigeria welcome Nigerians to the new year and acknowledged the fact that last year ( 2023) was very challenging and St the same time eventful in many ways.
According to him, for Nigeria, it was a transition year which saw a peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another in the 24 unbroken democratic years.
He said last year was also a year when Nigerians, entrusted their faith in him by giving him the mandate to revamp the economy, restore security within our borders, revatilise the industrial sector, boost agricultural production and increase national production. President Tinubu noted that the above-mentioned tasks which formed the core of his renewed hope campaign message, are what motivated him to run for president.
He reiterated the fact that, all the actions be has since coming to power has been in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.
The President said in the past seven months he came to office, he has undoubtedly taken some difficult decisions prominently, the removal of fuel subsidy and removal of what he termed ” chokehold of a few people on our foreign exchange that benefited only the rich and the most powerful among us”.
He acknowledged the fact that these two actions, has brought untold hardship to individuals, families and businesses. Stressing that, high cost of living and rising inflation now above 28 percent, has been a subject of discourse at homes and several fora and he ( President Tinubu) is not oblivious of that.
He told Nigerians that his government having laid the groundwork for economic recovery in the past seven months, is poise to accelerate the pace of recovery across all sectors.
President Tinubu went on to highlight some of the plans to include, a deal with the German Chancellor at Dubai to speed up the delivery of the Siemens Energy power project to boost electricity supply to homes and businesses under the existing Presidential Power Initiative which began in 2018. Another is the move to restart the Port Harcourt Refinery and Dangote Refinery.
On food security which has been the yearning of most Nigerians, he said his administration has step up plans to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands across the country to grow staple foods like, maize, rice, wheat and millet among others. Disclosing that, this policy began with the launching of 120,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State November 2023 under the National Wheat Development Programme.
President Tinubu in his new year speech, promised Nigerians that he will ensure that all the fiscal and tax policies reforms are put in place to enhance a business friendly environment specifically, the removal of all impediments to business competitiveness.
He emphasised that in the 2024 budget, he had listed eight priority areas to tackle. These are, national defence and internal security, macro-economic stability, investment environment optimisation, human capital development, poverty reduction and social security.
President Tinubu promised that his administration will work towards achieving these to ensure all Nigerians reap the dividends of his administration.
He reminded Nigerians that it was because of these, that he recently put in place a policy coordination, evaluation, monitoring and delivery unit in the Presidency, and assured that within the first quarter of this year, the Ministers and Heads of Agencies that want to have a ‘ future in his administration’ would would have to prove themselves.
He therefore pleaded with Nigerians to contribute their quota towards building the country this new year, so that all will benefit.
