Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture in this interview speaks on the achievements of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in the last three years especially in areas of war against corruption, insecurity and revamping the economy. TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI brings the excerpts:

As the Buhari administration roll out the drums to celebrate its third year anniversary, what specific things can you point to that this government has achieved in the last three years? Can you say that this government has fulfilled its promises made to Nigerians while canvassing for votes three years ago?

Before I go into specifics, let me say, unequivocally, that this administration has kept its social contract with the Nigerian people by delivering on its campaign promises. We are putting our nation on the path of sustainable growth and development, diversifying our economy like never before, tackling corruption at its very core and devising creative measures to secure lives and property. After just three years, Nigeria is rising again like a phoenix from the ashes of years of massive looting of the national treasury, misgovernance and fallen oil prices. Under the able, focused and patriotic leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, this administration has recorded many firsts in so short a time, achievements that are beginning to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians. Let me cite some of those unprecedented achievements:

In just three years, the Buhari administration has taken power generation to an all-time high of 7,000 megawatts, from the 2690 which we inherited. In just three years, the Buhari administration has taken distributable power to an all-time high of 5,000MW. In just three years, this administration has moved Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency in rice more than any administration before it. It’s just two years away from meeting its target production of 6 million MT of milled rice, meeting Nigeria’s consumption. In just three years, this administration has increased the number of rice farmers from 5 million to an all-time high over 11 million. In just three years, this administration has cut Nigeria’s rice import bill of $1.65billion annually by 90%, the highest such cut ever. In just three years, this administration has slashed leakages in government spending that made corruption possible, thanks to the diligent implementation of the Treasury Singles Account (TSA) and the hugely-successful whistleblower policy.

In just three years, this administration is feeding 8.2 million pupils in 45,394 schools in 24 states, employing 87,261 cooks in the process. In just three years, this administration has been paying conditional cash transfer of N5,000 monthly to 297,973 poorest and most vulnerable households. In just three years, this administration has delivered 10 million, 50kg bags of feritiliser at a low price N5,500 (for 2017 alone). The country now has annual savings of US$200 million in foreign exchange and N60 billion annually in budgetary provisions for fertiliser subsidies. In just three years, this administration is turning around the nation’s infrastructural fortunes, including power, roads and rail, thanks to the unprecedented 2.7 trillion Naira ($9 billion) that has been spent on infrastructure. In just three years, this aldministration has raised capital expenditure in the yearly national budget to an unprecedented 30% on the average. In just three years, this dministration has taken its investment in people, through the unprecedented Social Investment Programme (SIP), to a great height. All four components of the N-POWER Programme are now up and running, benefiting 9 million people directly: N-POWER, GEEP, HOME-GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME AND CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER. In just three years, this administration has retaken every inch of Nigeria’s territory from insurgents, flushed them out of their safe havens and put them on the run. These are monumental achievements, unprecedented in the history of our country.


What gains has this government recorded in the last three years in the area of security?

To a large extent, security and normalcy have been restored to the North-East. The Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), aimed at combating trans-border crime and the Boko Haram insurgency, has been rejuvenated. El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club has returned to their home base in Maiduguri (in April 2016), two years after relocating to Katsina State because of the insurgency. Emirs of Askira and Uba returned home in May 2016, two years after fleeing their palaces on account of the Boko Haram insurgency. Public Secondary Schools resumed in Borno State on Monday September 26, 2016, after two years of closure. Maiduguri-Gubio and Maiduguri-Monguno Roads reopened in December 2016, after being closed for three years. Capture of Boko Haram’s operational and spiritual headquarters,“Camp Zero”, in Sambisa Forest, in December 2016. Following this, the Nigerian Army conducted its Small Arms Championship from 26th to 31st March 2017, a measure aimed at enabling the Armed forces to dominate the area, and avoid regrouping by the terrorists. Also, Arik Air resumed flights to Maiduguri in May 2017, three years after suspending operations to the city. The Nigerian Military reopened Maiduguri-Bama-Banki Road in March 2018, four years after it was seized by Boko Haram. More than a million displaced persons have returned to their homes and communities across the Northeast, since 2015.

– More than 13,000 Boko Haram hostages have been freed from Boko Haram captivity, including 106 of the Chibok Girls abducted in April 2014, and 105 of the Dapchi Girls abducted in February 2018.

In North Central, where there have been incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers: Deployment of a Joint Military Intervention Force (JMIF), comprising Regular and Special Forces personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy, and working in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security (DSS), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC). On Monday 14th May, 2018, Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, flagged-off the Army’s newly-established 2 Battalion Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Kanfanin Doka Village, Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State.Establishment of a new Area Command and two additional Divisional Police Headquarters in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State. In May 2018, the JMIF kicked off ‘Operation Whirl Stroke’, to counter armed herdsmen and militia groups operating in and around Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara States. Establishment by Nigerian Air Force of Quick Response Wings (QRW) in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States, and deployment of Special Forces to these QRWs.

– The Nigeria Police Force has recently inaugurated a new Mobile Squadron in Takum, Taraba State.

There are also other successful military Operations across the country to battle different security situations. To name a few: Operation Lafiya Dole, and Operation Last Hold, to defeat Boko Haram, in the Northeast. Operation Whirl Stroke, operating in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara states, to tackle the menace of armed herdsmen, cattle rustlers, communal militias, kidnappers and other bandits. Exercise Crocodile Smile I (September 2016) and II (October 2017) to curtail the menace of militant activities in the Niger Delta: Exercise Obangame, a multinational operation aimed at securing and protecting the Gulf of Guinea. Operation Awatse, a joint operation between the Military and the Police, in South West Nigeria, to flush out militants and pipeline vandals. Commenced July 2016, and still ongoing. Exercise Python Dance I (November 2016) and II (September 2017) in the South East, to tackle kidnappers and militant elements. There have also been major arrests of criminals across the country, including Usman Mohammed, aka Khalid Al-Barnawi, leader of the Ansaru Terrorist group and one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, with a US$6m United States bounty on his head. He’s currently being prosecuted alongside his accomplices; Amodu Omale Salifu, leader of an ISIS affiliate group active in North Central Nigeria, plotting to bomb foreign embassies; Ansaru leaders, Ahmed Momoh and Al-amin Mohammed Jamin, both confirmed associates of a prominent Ansaru kingpin terrorising residents in Kogi and Edo states.

These are some of the achievements we have recorded in the last three years. Where many saw challenges, we saw opportunities. Where many saw impossibilities, we saw possibilities. We surmounted every opposition on our path to deliver on our promises to Nigerians. While naysayers pretended to be blind to our achievements, Nigerians who are being positively impacted by the good works of President Buhari applaud and appreciate our efforts, from the feedback we are getting.

They know that no government in the history of our country has ever done so much with so little. They know and acknowledge the sincerity, transparency and accountability of the Buhari administration. They know and support the administration’s diversification effort, which is paying off. We must be able to own our own future. We cannot be a hostage to oil price or production levels. That means taking back control of our economy and making it productive, and delivering value for all of our people. That’s exactly what we are doing.

By building an economy that is no longer reliant on income from one commodity, thanks to the ongoing diversification process, we will be creating a sustainable basis for long-term and inclusive growth for all.

We are keenly aware that Government must be accountable, and this government is very accountable. We are providing security, we are providing an enabling environment for business and we are delivering strong and effective public services. We want to assure Nigerians that we will continue to deliver on our campaign promises.


Read more https://independent.ng/nigerians-appreciate-what-we-have-done-lai-mohammed/

Very Happy

I have told you to stop smoking Oshogbo weed

Jer6s:
.

Omo kékeré, you still booking land.

Lai Mohammed has denied Allah and Mohammed its prophet by lying during fasting

Redomi:
Omo kékeré, you still booking land.

Book land ke?
Me wey never land for airport, na FLIGHT I wan book o

it just next yr na.keep deceiving buhari

Lai Mohammed should please take some chill and observe fasting, Lieing during Ramadan is against Allah, Only the Yorubas Muslims will disagree with me....

Alhaji Lying Mohammed.

I won't read that Epistle from Mr. Truth.

I don't want to be angry this morning

praise010:
I won't read that Epistle from Mr. Truth.

I don't want to be angry this morning

That lair Mohammed can get to ones nerve.its better not to read than to get angry.

Is Lai not supposed to be fasting,? How come he is busy lieing up and down. I know Islam forbids lieing. Somebody should help reach out to this man please.