President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he shares the pains Nigerians are going through and assured that their “resilience and patience would not be in vain as this administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them to deal with all forms of security challenges”.
In a nationwide broadcast on Saturday to mark Nigeria’s 62nd Independence anniversary, Buhari recalled that at the inception of his administration in 2015 that he provided the funding requirements of the security agencies which was also improved in the second tenure in 2019 to enable them to surmount security challenges.
“We will continue on this path until our efforts yield the desired results.
“As we put in place all measures to ensure that Nigeria takes her place in the Comity of Nations, we recognize the importance of a well-educated populace as a panacea to most of the challenges we face. We have, therefore, pursued policies and implemented programmes designed to create a literate and proficient society that ensures that citizens are availed with opportunities for life-long achievements.
“I must confess that I am very pained by the recurring disruption to our tertiary education system and I am using this Independence Day celebration to re-iterate my call for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to return to the classroom while assuring them to deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce resources available. This administration has made appreciable progress in redressing these issues that have been lingering for over eleven years.”
Buhari assured that the Federal Government will continue to mobilize resources both internationally and nationally towards funding education to ensure that “our citizens are well educated and skilled in various vocations in view of the fact that education is a leading determinant of economic growth and employment generation”.
Speaking on the achievements of the government, Buhari said that the administration removed several decades of uncertainty for potential investors in the Oil & Gas sector with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 and that this landmark legislation created opportunities for foreign investments in addition to improving transparency in the management of the sector.
He disclosed that the administration has given the desired priority to the agricultural sector through a series of incentives to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises that resulted in creating millions of jobs.
“Leading this initiative, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in a number of areas as well as the Anchor Borrowers Programme had created the required leverages for Nigerians towards self-sufficiency in food and the necessary attraction for farming as a business.
“The growing contribution of non-oil exports, especially in agriculture, information and communication technology as well as the performing arts to our national economy will enhance our foreign exchange earning capacity.
“We are confronting current economic challenges such as debt burden, growing inflation, living standards and increasing unemployment accentuated by our growing youthful population. These problems are globally induced and we would continue to ensure that their negative effects are addressed in our policies,” he added.
GIK/APA