Published By News Editor
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has scored itself a passmark on the economy, security, as well as provision of infrastructure – security architecture, roads and bridges, housing stock, aviation, railway and social intervention such as school feeding and social safety provision in the outgoing year, 2021.
The Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known on Thursday, while briefing journalists on the activities of the government at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos.
According to him, despite the enormous challenges posed by insecurity in the year, the military has continued to live up to its billing by tackling insecurity headlong and bringing bandits and other criminal activities across the country to it’s knees.
He gave a list of 100 achievements of the Buhari administration in the year, urging Nigerians to continue to support the military in its efforts to keep the Nation safe.
He said: “To keep our country safe, the Armed Forces, has set up various operations across the country. These include the Joint Task Force (JTF) North East, tagged Operation HADIN KAI covering the North East region; the JTF SS, tagged Operation DELTA SAFE covering the South South region; the JTF NW, known as Operation HADARIN DAJI, covering the North West region; Operation SAFE HAVEN covering Plateau, parts of Kaduna and Bauchi States; Operation WHIRL STROKE covering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States; JTF SW, referred to as Operation AWATSE and covering Lagos and Ogun States; Operation THUNDER STRIKE covering Abuja-Kaduna Highway and Operation WHIRL PUNCH covering parts of Kaduna State.”
He said the various operations has recorded appreciable successes and through it the administration has continued to cripple the insurgents from overrunning the country.
He said no fewer than 10,000 Nigerians were recruited into the Nigeria Army in the year, while the Army procured 160 MRAPS, 60 APCs and 150 trucks, to strengthen their equipment holding, while the Nigeria navy launched the FALCON EYE, and a locally built seaward defence boat, while the Nigeria Air Force took delivery of 12 Super Tucanos and three fighter jets, with which it has conducted several air interdictions.
He said the nation’s armed forces also contributed to international peace and security through the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the regional initiative, the ECOWAS Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG). The Nigerian military’s continued participation in these Missions Mohammed further explained has ensured their viability and sustenance towards achieving their military and political goals.
On the economy, the Information Minister said the roll out of effective fiscal, economic and health policies all contributed to the early rebound of the nation’s economy from the clutches of COVID-19, which plunged the Nation into a recession.
He said the signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act, by President Muhammadu Buhari and it’s painstaking implementation has begun to impact the economy, as for the first time in over four decades, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) posted a N287 billion whopping profit.
He said the economy would continue to wax strong as a number of initiative are being injected to stimulate the economy.
“Inflation rate has continued to decline on a year-on-year basis since April 2021 when 18.12% was recorded. Looking at the trend, a declining rate was recorded from 17.93% in May to 17.01% in August, 15.99% in October and 15.40% November 2021. It is projected that proper implementation of the proposed 2022 project of N17.13trillion, and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper 2022-2024 are likely to improve the performance of the economy.
“The economic performance in 2021 shows a steady improvement in growth over the last three quarters of 2020, and this can be attributed to government policies and strategies such as the Economic Sustainability Plan; the N500 billion COVID 19 Crisis Intervention Fund etc.
On infrastructure, Mohammed said the government continued to record appreciable success in the area of road rehabilitation, with the delivery of no fewer than seven major highways, among them the Kano- Maiduguri road, section II, the Nnewi- Nduma road, the Kano- Maiduguri road Section III, among others as well as ongoing bridge projects across the six geo-political zones, among them the legacy second Niger Bridge.
Still on infrastructure, the Minister said the key infrastructure in aviation was the construction of the Boeing 737 full motion flight simulator at the Aviation college, zaria and the training and retraining of pilots, the aircraft fire fighter training simulator and the installation of CAT III at the airports in Lagos and Abuja.
He listed the most outstanding achievement of the government in the area of Transportation as the delivery of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge train, the groundbreaking of the rehabilitation of the railway narrow gauge which is the PortHarcourt-Maiduguri Eastern line, the flag-off of the Kano-Maradi rail line, which was contracted to Mota Engil Contractors ong others. The Ministry if Transportation according to the Minister also launched the National security and Waterways protection also known as the Deep Blue Assets, aimed and controlling, managing and protecting the nation’s waters.