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ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR, PRESIDENT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ON THE OCCASION OUR COUNTRY\u2019S 56TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY TODAY SATURDAY\n1ST OCTOBER 2016
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\nToday \u2013 1st October is a day of celebration for us Nigerians. \u00a0On this day, 56 years ago our people achieved the most important of all human desires \u2013 freedom and independence. \u00a0We should all therefore give thanks and pray for our founding fathers without whose efforts and toil we would not reap the bounties of today.
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\n2. I know that uppermost in your minds today is the economic crisis. The recession for many individuals and families is real. For some It means not being able to pay school fees, for others it’s not being able to afford the high cost of food (rice and millet) or the high cost of local or international travel, and for many of our young people the recession means joblessness, sometimes after graduating from university or polytechnic.
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\n3. I know how difficult things are, and how rough business is. All my adult life I have always earned a salary and I know what it is like when your salary simply is not enough. In every part of our nation people are making incredible sacrifices.
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\n4. But let me say to all Nigerians today, I ran for office four times to make the point that we can rule this nation with honesty and transparency, that we can stop the stealing of Nigeria’s resources so that the resources could be used to provide jobs for our young people, security, infrastructure for commerce, education and healthcare.
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\n5. I ran for office because I know that good government is the only way to ensure prosperity and abundance for all. I remain resolutely committed to this objective.
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\n6. I believe that this recession will not last.
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\n7. Temporary problems should not blind or divert us from the corrective course this government has charted for our nation. \u00a0We have identified the country\u2019s salient problems and we are working hard at lasting solutions.
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\n8. To re-cap what I have been saying since the inception of this administration, our problems are security, corruption and the economy, especially unemployment and the alarming level of poverty.
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\n9. On Security, we have made progress. \u00a0Boko Haram was defeated by last December \u2013 only resorting to cowardly attacks on soft targets, killing innocent men, women and children.
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\n10. \u00a0 Nigerians should thank our gallant men of the Armed Forces and Police for rescuing large areas of the country captured by insurgents. \u00a0Now, residents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, as well as several neighbouring states go about their daily business in relative safety. \u00a0People can go to mosques, churches, market places in reasonable safety.
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\n11. \u00a0 Commuters can travel between cities, towns and villages without fear. \u00a0Credit for this remarkable turn-round should go to our Armed Forces, the Police, various sponsored and private vigilante groups, the local traditional leaders. \u00a0Security is a top to bottom concern and responsibility.
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\n12. \u00a0 Besides Boko Haram, we are confronting other long-running security issues, namely herdsmen vs farmers, cattle rustling, kidnappings. \u00a0This Administration is firmly resolved to tackle these challenges and to defeat them.
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\n13. \u00a0 A new insurgency has reared up its head in the shape of blowing up gas and oil pipelines by groups of Niger Delta Militants. \u00a0This Administration will not allow these mindless groups to hold the country to ransom.
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\n14. \u00a0 What sense is there to damage a gas line as a result of which many towns in the country including their own town or village is put in darkness as a result? \u00a0What logic is there in blowing up an export pipeline and as a result income to your state and local governments and consequently their ability to provide services to your own people is reduced?
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\n15. \u00a0 No group can unlawfully challenge the authority of the Federal Government and succeed. \u00a0Our Administration is fully sympathetic to the plight of the good people of Niger Delta and we are in touch with the State Governments and leaderships of the region. \u00a0It is known that the clean-up of the Ogoniland has started. \u00a0Infrastructural projects financed by the Federal Government and post amnesty programme financing will continue.
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\n16. \u00a0 We have however, continued to dialogue with all groups and leaders of thought in the region to bring lasting peace.
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\n17. \u00a0 Corruption is a cancer which must be fought with all the weapons at our disposal. \u00a0It corrodes the very fabric of government and destroys society. \u00a0Fighting corruption is Key, not only to restoring the moral health of the nation, but also to freeing our enormous resources for urgent socio-economic development.
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\n18. \u00a0 In fighting corruption, however, the government would adhere strictly by the rule of law. \u00a0Not for the first time I am appealing to the judiciary to join the fight against corruption.
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\n19. \u00a0 The Third Plank in this Administration\u2019s drive to CHANGE Nigeria is re-structuring the economy. \u00a0Economies behaviour is cyclical. \u00a0All countries face ups and downs. \u00a0Our own recession has been brought about by a critical shortage of foreign exchange. \u00a0Oil price dropped from an average of hundred USD per barrel over the last decade to an average of forty USD per barrel this year and last.
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\n20. \u00a0 Worse still, the damage perpetrated by Niger Delta thugs on pipelines sometimes reduced Nigeria\u2019s production to below One million barrels per day against the normal two point two million barrels per day. \u00a0Consequently, the Naira is at its weakest, but the situation will stabilize.
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\n21. \u00a0 But this is only temporary. \u00a0Historically about half our dollar export earnings go to importation of petroleum and food products! \u00a0Nothing was saved for the rainy days during the periods of prosperity. \u00a0We are now reaping the whirlwinds of corruption, recklessness and impunity.
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\n22. \u00a0 There are no easy solutions, but there are solutions nonetheless and Government is pursuing them in earnest. \u00a0We are to repair our four refineries so that Nigeria can produce most of our petrol requirements locally, pending the coming on stream of new refineries. \u00a0That way we will save ten billion USD yearly in importing fuel.
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\n23. \u00a0 At the same time, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank have been mobilized to encourage local production of rice, maize, sorghum, millet and soya beans. \u00a0Our target is to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in these staples by 2018.
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\n24. \u00a0 Already farmers in thirteen out of thirty six states are receiving credit support through the Central Bank of Nigeria\u2019s Anchor Borrowers Programme. \u00a0Kebbi state alone this year is expected to produce one million tonnes of locally grown rice, thanks to a favourable harvest this year. \u00a0As part of the 13 states, Lagos and Ogun are also starting this programme. Rice alone for example costs Nigeria two billion USD to import.
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\n25. \u00a0 The country should be self-sufficient in basic staples by 2019. \u00a0Foreign exchange thus saved can go to industrial revival requirements for retooling, essential raw materials and spare parts. \u00a0It is in recognition of the need to re-invigorate agriculture in our rural communities that we are introducing the LIFE programme.
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\n26. \u00a0 Government recognises that irrigation is key to modern agriculture: that is why the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources are embarking on a huge programme of development of lakes, earth dams and water harvesting schemes throughout the country to ensure that we are no longer dependent on rain-fed agriculture for our food requirements.
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\n27. In addition, government is introducing Water Resources Bill encompassing the National Water Resources Policy and National Irrigation and Drainage Policy to improve management of water and irrigation development in the country. \u00a0We are reviving all the twelve River Basin Authorities, namely;
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\nAnambra – Imo
\nBenin – Owena
\nChad Basin
\nCross River
\nHadejia – Jama’are
\nLower Benue
\nLower Niger
\nNiger Delta
\nOgun – Osun
\nSokoto – Rima
\nUpper Benue
\nUpper Niger
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\n28. \u00a0The intention is eventually to fully commercialise them to better support crop production, aqua \u2013culture and accelerated rural development.
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\n29. \u00a0 This Administration is committed to the revival of Lake Chad and improvement of the hydrology and ecology of the basin. \u00a0This will tune in with efforts to rehabilitate the thirty million people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad basin countries.
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\n30. \u00a0 The second plank in our economic revival strategy is centred on the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. \u00a0The Ministry will lead and oversee the provision of critical infrastructure of power, road transport network and housing development.
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\n31. \u00a0 Power generation has steadily risen since our Administration came on board from three thousand three hundred and twenty four \u00a0 megawatts in June 2015, rising to a peak of five thousand and seventy four megawatts in February 2016.
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\n32. \u00a0 For the first time in our history the country was producing five thousand megawatts. However, renewed militancy and destruction of gas pipelines caused acute shortage of gas and constant drop in electricity output available on the grid.
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\n33. \u00a0 There has been during the period June 2015 to September 2016 big improvement in transmission capacity from five thousand five hundred megawatts to the present seven thousand three hundred megawatts.
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\n34. \u00a0 There were only two system collapses between June and December 2015, but due to vandalism by Niger Delta militants the over-all system suffered 16 system collapses between March and July 2016 alone. As I have said earlier, we are engaging with responsible leadership in the region to find lasting solutions to genuine grievances of the area but we will not allow a tiny minority of thugs to cripple the country’s economy.
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\n35. \u00a0 In the meantime, government is going ahead with projects utilizing alternate technologies such as hydro, wind, and solar to contribute to our energy mix. In this respect, the Mambilla Hydro project, after many years of delay is taking off this year. Contract negotiations are nearing completion with Chinese firms for technical and financial commitments.
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\n36. \u00a0 The project is to be jointly financed by Nigeria and the Chinese-Export-Import Bank. In addition, fourteen Solar Power Projects have had their power purchase agreements concluded. Hence the plan to produce one thousand two hundred megawatts of solar electricity for the country would be realized on schedule.
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\n37. \u00a0 And in line with the objective of government to complete all abandoned projects across the country, the Rural Electrification Agency’s projects needing completion are provided for in the 2016 Budget. Bringing electricity to rural areas will help farmers, small scale and cottage industries to integrate with the national economy.
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\n38. \u00a0Roads Construction and Rehabilitation has taken off. The sum of twelve billion Naira was allocated to this sector in the 2015 Budget, not enough even to pay interest on outstanding unpaid claims.
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\n39. \u00a0 Notwithstanding the budgetary constraints, the current budget allocated two hundred and forty billion Naira for highway projects against twelve billion Naira in 2015. Many contractors who have not been paid for three years have now remobilized to sites. Seven hundred and twenty point five billion Naira has so far been released this budget year to capital projects.
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\n40. \u00a0 The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has received one hundred and ninety seven point five billion Naira. Work on the following highways has now resumed.
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\nDualization of Calabar \u2013 Itu Road in Cross River\/Akwa Ibom States.
\nDualization of Lokoja \u2013 Benin Road, Ehor – Benin city, Edo State.
\nRe-construction of outstanding sections of Benin \u2013 Shagamu Express way, Edo\/Ogun States.
\nExpansion works on Lagos \u2013 Ibadan Dual carriageway, Ogun\/Oyo States
\nRehabilitation of Onitsha \u2013 Enugu Expressway, Anambra\/Enugu States.
\nRehabilitation and Reconstruction of Enugu \u2013 Port Harcourt Dual carriageway, Abia\/Rivers States.
\nRehabilitation of Hadejia \u2013 Nguru Road, Jigawa State.
\nDualization of Kano \u2013 Katsina Road, Kano State.
\nDualization of Kano \u2013 Maiduguri Road, Borno State.
\nDualization of Azare \u2013 Potiskum Road, Azare \u2013 Sharuri Road, Bauchi State.
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\nRehabilitation of Ilorin \u2013 Jebba \u2013 Mokwa \u2013 Birnin Gwari Road, Kwara State.
\nConstruction of Oju\/Lokoja \u2013 Oweto Bridge over River Benue, Benue State.
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\n41. \u00a0Other major highways are in the queue for rehabilitation or new construction.
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\n42. \u00a0Already contractors have recalled about nine thousand workers laid off and Government expects that several hundreds of thousands of workers will be reengaged in the next few months as our public works programme gains momentum.
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\n43. \u00a0 On railways, we have provided our counterpart funding to China for the building of our standard gauge Lagos -Kano railway. Meanwhile, General Electric is investing two point two billion USD in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage the existing lines, including the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line. The Lagos-Calabar railway will also be on stream soon.
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\n44. \u00a0We have initiated the National Housing Programme. In 2014 four hundred million Naira was voted for Housing. In 2015 nothing. Our first budget this year is devoting thirty five point six billion Naira. Much of the house building will be private \u2013 sector led but Government is initiating a pilot housing scheme of two thousand eight hundred and thirty eight units uniformly spread across the 36 states and FCT.
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\n45. \u00a0 We expect these units to be completed within 4 \u2013 6 months. These experimental Nigeria House model Units will be constructed using only made in Nigeria building materials and components. This initiative is expected to reactivate the building materials manufacturing sector, generate massive employment opportunities and develop sector capacity and expertise.
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\n46. \u00a0 The programmes I have outlined will revive the economy, restore the value of the Naira and drive hunger from our land.
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\n47. \u00a0 Abroad, Nigeria\u2019s standing has changed beyond belief in the last 18 months. We are no longer a pariah state. Wherever I go, I have been received with un-accustomed hospitality. Investors from all over the world are falling over themselves to come and do business in Nigeria. This government intends to make business environment more friendly because we can not develop ourselves alone.
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\n48. \u00a0 All countries, no matter how advanced, welcome foreign investments to their economy. This is the essence of globalization and no country in the 21st century can be an island. Our reforms are therefore designed to prepare Nigeria for the 21st century.
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\n49. \u00a0 Finally, let me commend Nigerians for your patience, steadfastness and perseverance. You know that I am trying to do the right things for our country.
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\n50. \u00a0Thank you and may God bless our country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"