2020: My plans for Nigeria – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on New Year Day
wrote a letter to Nigerians highlighting the key
tasks his government would undertake in 2020 and
the new decade.
The president touched on infrastructure, electricity,
security, elections and other areas of national
interest.
He vowed that he would not seek reelection in
2023.
“I will be standing down in 2023 and will not be
available in any future elections,” the president
said.
Read Mr Buhari’s full letter below.
My Dear Compatriots,
NIGERIA’S DECADE
Today marks a new decade. It is a time of hope,
optimism and fresh possibilities. We look forward
as a nation to the 2020s as the opportunity to build
on the foundations we have laid together on
security, diversification of our economy and taking
on the curse of corruption. These are the pledges on
which I have been twice elected President and
remain the framework for a stable, sustainable and
more prosperous future.
Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. I
salute the commitment of the millions who voted in
peace last February and of those leaders who
contested for office vigorously but fairly,
submitting to the authority of the electorate, the
Independent National Electoral Commission and
judicial process. I understand very well the
frustrations our system has in the past triggered. I
will be standing down in 2023 and will not be
available in any future elections. But I am
determined to help strengthen the electoral process
both in Nigeria and across the region, where
several ECOWAS members go to the polls this year.
As Commander-in-Chief, my primary concern is the
security of the nation and the safety of our citizens.
When I assumed office in May 2015 my first task
was to rally our neighbours so that we could
confront Boko Haram on a coordinated regional
basis. Chaos is not a neighbour any of us hope for.
We have been fighting on several fronts: violent extremists, cultists
and organised criminal networks. It has not been easy. But as we
are winning the war, we also look to the challenge of winning the
peace, the reconstruction of lives, communities and markets. The
North East Development Commission will work with local and
international stakeholders to help create a new beginning for the
North East.
The Federal Government will continue to work with State Governors,
neighbouring states and our international partners to tackle the root
causes of violent extremism and the networks that help finance and
organise terror. Our security forces will receive the best training
and modern weaponry, and in turn will be held to the highest
standards of professionalism, and respect for human rights. We will
use all the human and emerging technological resources available to
tackle kidnapping, banditry and armed robbery.
The new Ministry of Police Affairs increased recruitment of officers
and the security reforms being introduced will build on what we are
already delivering. We will work tirelessly at home and with our
allies in support of our policies to protect the security of life and
property. Our actions at all times will be governed by the rule of
law. At the same time, we shall look always to engage with all well-
meaning leaders and citizens of goodwill to promote dialogue,
partnership and understanding.
We need a democratic government that can guarantee peace and
security to realise the full potential of our ingenious,
entrepreneurial and hard-working people. Our policies are designed
to promote genuine, balanced growth that delivers jobs and rewards
industry. Our new Economic Advisory Council brings together
respected and independent thinkers to advise me on a strategy that
champions inclusive and balanced growth, and above all fight
poverty and safeguard national economic interests.
As we have sat down to celebrate with friends and family over this
holiday season, for the first time in a generation our food plates
have not all been filled with imports of products we know can easily
be produced here at home. The revolution in agriculture is already a
reality in all corners of the country. New agreements with Morocco,
Russia and others will help us access on attractive terms the inputs
we need to accelerate the transformation in farming that is taking
place.
A good example of commitment to this inclusive growth is the
signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the creation
of the National Action Committee to oversee its implementation and
ensure the necessary safeguards are in place to allow us to fully
capitalise on regional and continental markets.
The joint land border security exercise currently taking place is
meant to safeguard Nigeria’s economy and security. No one can
doubt that we have been good neighbours and good citizens. We
have been the helpers and shock-absorbers of the sub-region but we
cannot allow our well-planned economic regeneration plans to be
sabotaged. As soon as we are satisfied that the safeguards are
adequate, normal cross-border movements will be resumed.
Already, we are making key infrastructure investments to enhance
our ease of doing business. On transportation, we are making
significant progress on key roads such as the Second Niger Bridge,
Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja – Kano highway. 2020 will
also see tangible progress on the Lagos to Kano Rail line. Through
Executive Order 007, we are also using alternative funding
programmes in collaboration with private sector partners to fix
strategic roads such as the Apapa-Oworonshoki Express way. Abuja
and Port Harcourt have new international airport terminals, as will
Kano and Lagos in 2020. When completed, all these projects will
positively impact business operations in the country. These projects
are not small and do not come without some temporary disruption;
we are doing now what should have been done a long time ago. I
thank you for your patience and look forward to the dividends that
we and future generations will long enjoy.
Power has been a problem for a generation. We know we need to
pick up the pace of progress. We have solutions to help separate
parts of the value chain to work better together. In the past few
months, we have engaged extensively with stakeholders to develop a
series of comprehensive solutions to improve the reliability and
availability of electricity across the country. These solutions include
ensuring fiscal sustainability for the sector, increasing both
government and private sector investments in the power
transmission and distribution segments, improving payment
transparency through the deployment of smart meters and ensuring
regulatory actions maximise service delivery.
We have in place a new deal with Siemens, supported by the
German government after German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited
us in Abuja, to invest in new capacity for generation, transmission
and distribution. These projects will be under close scrutiny and
transparency – there will be no more extravagant claims that end
only in waste, theft and mismanagement.
The next 12 months will witness the gradual implementation of these
actions, after which Nigerians can expect to see significant
improvement in electricity service supply reliability and delivery.
Separately, we have plans to increase domestic gas consumption. In
the first quarter of 2020, we will commence work on the AKK gas
pipeline, OB3 Gas pipeline and the expansion of the Escravos –
Lagos Pipeline.
While we look to create new opportunities in agriculture,
manufacturing and other long neglected sectors, in 2020 we will also
realise increased value from oil and gas, delivering a more
competitive, attractive and profitable industry, operating on
commercial principles and free from political interference. Just last
week, we were able to approve a fair framework for the USD10
billion expansion of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, which will
increase exports by 35 percent, restore our position as a world
leader in the sector and create thousands of jobs. The Amendment of
the Deep Offshore Act in October signalled our intention to create a
modern, forward-looking industry in Nigeria. I am confident that in
2020 we will be able to present a radical programme of reform for
oil and gas that will excite investors, improve governance and
strengthen protections for host communities and the environment.
We can expect the pace of change in technology only to accelerate in
the decade ahead. Coupled with our young and vibrant population,
this offers huge opportunities if we are able to harness the most
productive trends and tame some of the wilder elements. This is a
delicate balance with which many countries are struggling. We are
seeking an informed and mature debate that reflects our rights and
responsibilities as citizens in shaping the boundaries of how best to
allow technology to benefit Nigeria.
During my Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2019, I promised to
lay the enduring foundations for taking a hundred million
Nigerians out of mass poverty over the next 10 years. Today I restate
that commitment. We shall continue reforms in education, health
care and water sanitation. I have met international partners such as
GAVI, the vaccine alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
who support our social welfare programmes. I will continue to work
with State and Local Governments to make sure that these
partnerships deliver as they should. Workers will have a living wage
and pensioners will be looked after. We are steadily clearing
pensions and benefits arrears neglected for so long.
The new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management
and Social Development will consolidate and build on the social
intervention schemes and will enhance the checks and balances
necessary for this set of programmes to succeed for the long term.
I am able to report that the journey has already begun with the
passage and signing into law of the 2020 Appropriation Act. As the
new decade dawns, we are ready to hit the ground running. Let me
pay tribute to the Ninth National Assembly who worked
uncommonly long hours to make sure that the 2020 budget scrutiny
is both thorough and timely. The close harmony between the
Executive and Legislature is a sharp contrast to what we have
experienced in the recent past, when the Senate kept the previous
budget for 7 months without good reason just to score cheap
political points thereby disrupting the budgetary processes and
overall economic development plans.
Our policies are working and the results will continue to show
themselves more clearly by the day. Nigeria is the most tremendous,
can-do market, offering extraordinary opportunities and returns.
Investors can look forward with confidence not only to an
increasing momentum of change but also to specific incentives,
including our new visa-on-arrival policy.
They can also be certain of our unshakeable commitment to tackle
corruption. As we create an environment that allows initiative,
enterprise and hard work to thrive, it is more important than ever
to call out those who find the rule of law an inconvenience, or
independent regulation an irritation. We are doing our part here in
Nigeria. We will continue to press our partners abroad to help with
the supply side of corruption and have received some
encouragement. We expect more funds stolen in the past to be
returned to us and they will be ploughed back into development
with all due transparency.
This is a joint initiative. Where our policies have worked best, it has
been because of the support of ordinary Nigerians in their millions,
numbers that even the most powerful of special interests cannot
defy. I thank you for your support. Transition by its very nature
carries with it change and some uncertainty along the way. I
encourage you to be tolerant, law abiding and peace loving. This is a
new year and the beginning of a new decade – the Nigerian Decade
of prosperity and promise for Nigeria and for Africa.
To recapitulate, some of the projects Nigerians should expect to come
upstream from 2020 include:
47 road projects scheduled for completion in 2020/21, including
roads leading to ports;
Major bridges including substantial work on the Second Niger
Bridge;
Completion of 13 housing estates under the National Housing Project
Plan;
Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri and Enugu international airports to be
commissioned in 2020;
Launching of an agricultural rural mechanisation scheme that will
cover 700 local governments over a period of three years;
Launching of the Livestock Development Project Grazing Model in
Gombe State where 200,000 hectares of land has been identified;
Training of 50,000 workers to complement the country’s 7,000
extension workers;
Commissioning of the Lagos – Ibadan and Itakpe – Warri rail lines
in the first quarter;
Commencement of the Ibadan – Abuja and Kano – Kaduna rail lines
also in the first quarter;
Further liberalisation of the power sector to allow businesses to
generate and sell power;
Commencement of the construction of the Mambilla Power project
by the first half of 2020; and
Commencement of the construction of the AKK gas pipeline, OB3 gas
pipeline and the expansion of the Escravos – Lagos pipeline in the
first quarter of 2020.
Thank you very much!
President Muhammadu Buhari
State House,
Abuja.