After days of prayers, weeks of waiting,
nearly two-months of palpable anxiety,
President Muhammadu Buhari finally
returned back to the country hale and
hearty. It was a joyous sight when after
51 days of medical vacation in the UK,
the Presidents plane touched down at
the Kaduna international airport in the
wee hours of the 10th of this month.
Upon his return, the President in his
typical magnanimity expressed his
appreciation to teeming Nigerians from
across the country, and beyond, who had
prayed fervently for him and also sent
their good wishes. Ferried to Abuja via a
chopper, the President has since
resumed duties.
For those 51-days, the President’s
absence evoked different sentiments
from various quarters within the country.
While many prayed and hoped for his
speedy recuperation and safe return,
others in their usual negativity stance,
hoped for the worst. Rumours were even
rife at the time that the President had
passed. However, his return has finally
silenced the rumour mongers and put the
naysayers to rest.
Currently, it is business as usual in Aso
Rock and the country’s economy is on
the upswing albeit slowly. The Naira is
steadily appreciating against the Dollar,
and other foreign exchange currencies.
Since the President Buhari’s leadership,
the country has recorded huge success
stories in the fight to overcome
insurgency that almost paralyzed most of
the North-eastern states. In the fight
against corruption, the President has
achieved great results with the recovery
of monies running to trillions of naira.
I’ve heard and read several
commentaries that the cause of the
current recession we are facing is as a
result of the President’s actions and
inactions. Truth be told however, the
main cause of the recession is primarily
the inability of the previous government
(s) to save. Other factors that has led to
the current state we are in is our
perpetual overdependence on oil and
foreign products. The activities of
militants and pipeline vandals have also
adversely contributed to the growth of
our economy.
Surprisingly, despite the economic
recession we are facing as a nation,
according to the World Happiness Report
2017, Nigerians are Africa’s sixth
happiest people. For those who keep
lambasting the present administration
and maintaining nothing good has been
recorded since the inception of this
administration, discernibly perusing the
administration, various notable
achievements have been made so far.
Since assuming power, in an effort to
instil fiscal discipline, Mr. President had
directed the closure of all multiple
accounts in Ministries, Departments and
Agencies of government; thus plugging
loopholes for leakages.
Similarly, the opaque accounting
structure of the NNPC has been
reconstructed to be more transparent
with the closure of more than 40
accounts. As a corporate entity, the
NNPC is now accountable and more
transparent in its operations, publishing
its monthly financial reports for all to
see. Something that didn’t exist before.
The Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri
refineries are back in operation and the
perennial fuel queues that was a usual
sight at filling stations across the country
is currently a thing of the past. This
administration has also commenced
repairs of products pipe lines and the
resuscitation of supply of products from
Atlas Cove-Mosimi- Ibadan- Ilorin after a
six year lull. The repairs of Escravos/
Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude oil
pipe lines have also been completed.
The President has consistently assisted
state governments in the form of bailout
to pay salaries of workers. Sometime last
year, it is on record that Mr. President
directed the CBN to disburse N689.5b as
bailout to 27 states to pay salaries.
Recently also, Mr. President as soon as
he returned ordered the disbursement of
N500bn London-Paris Club loan refund to
states by the Federal Ministry of
Finance.
The numbers of ghost workers draining
the nation’s resources has been steadily
expunged from the Federal Civil Service,
since this administration began; hence
saving billions of naira in the process. In
an effort to reduce cost of governance
and boost efficacy, Mr President on
assumption of office has streamlined the
number of federal ministries.
The Presidential Committee set up by the
present administration to probe contracts
awarded by the Office of the National
Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to
2015 has recovered over N7billion. The
government saves $1billion annually by
the elimination of the Offshore
Processing Agreement (OPA) via the
introduction of the Direct Sales and
Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme with
reputable off-shore refineries.
The implementation of the Treasury
Single Account (TSA) has provided
greater transparency and visibility of
government revenues and cash flows.
Between June 2015 and April 2016, the
Federal Government TSA collection
clocked N3trillion. Mr. President has also
granted his approval for the
Implementation of the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP) report
2010 for the clean-up of Ogoni-land with
regards to oil pollution and inclusion of
stakeholders in the process of
implementation.
These are just some of the laudable
achievement made by the present
administration under a recession.
However, more needs to be done and can
still be done in uplifting the country from
its current state. Asset divestment,
stable oil production, expansion of
economic infrastructure, expansion of
social investment programmes, improving
the ease of doing business in the
country, exports promotion, agricultural
transformation, are other strategies the
administration needs to microscopically
look into to haul our troubled economy
out of recession and restore growth.
We were once a great nation some
decades ago. Ours was a model to all
black people in the African continent and
the diaspora. Until the mid-1980s,
Nigerians knew nothing like second-hand
vehicles. The collective health of the
economy reflected on the quality of our
roads and the vehicles that used them. I
still remember the four vehicle assembly
plants – conceived as the launch-pad for
the much needed transfer of technology
to Nigeria – which were still operational.
They employed huge numbers of our
labour force along with the textile mills
and agriculture was flourishing.
We were not referred to as the giant of
Africa for nothing. It was due to our
immense potentials as a people and God-
given resources. The fact that we quickly
recovered from a bloody Civil War to
launch an ambitious development plan
during the early 1970s did nothing to
discourage the thoughts that alluded to
our potential greatness. Instead of
pointing accusing fingers and wallowing
in blame games, let us join hands
together, regardless of creed, ethnicity,
gender and political affiliation to make
this country great again. Instead of
writing Machiavellian Memos to the
President under the guise of genuine
concern to the president as a play for
the 2019 elections, only to later leak it to
the press as way of exposing and
embarrassing the presidency, why not
use the ‘so-called’ advice in the memo to
apply it to fix state the memo emanated
from.
Thus, for our beloved country to be great
again, it will take more than the efforts
of Mr. President riding on the crest of
integrity and incorruptibility. We all have
collective roles to play as a people and
as citizens of this great nation of ours.
We all must realize and must appreciate
our individual stakes in the Nigeria
project by making the critical
adjustments that are necessary to make
it great again. Making our country great
again requires all our collective efforts…
Yes, collective efforts from you and me!
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