Part 1
In this most elaborate piece ever written on Mr President
–Dr. GoodluckEbele Jonathan than in any local magazines, tabloids, broadsheets and whatever –a product of intensive research
is subdivided into five parts .The first part deals with the early childhood of
Mr President ,and the venture into politics ,the second touches the ascendancy of the nation’s
new political order with the rise of GEJ administration ;the third elaborates a
bit its heroism and checkered antecedence, the same with fourth and the last
part of this treatise includes its critique.Enjoy the reading .
PART ONE ………Humble
Beginnings
GoodluckEbele Jonathan is a Nigerian like you and today
is the president of the federal republic of Nigeria but his destiny and past cannot be detached from his becoming
today .Certainly ,every man’s history is
the foundry of his destiny and how well you manage this history would determine
your golden place on the sands of time .Our
historical case study is Mr President .
GEJ by grace of
destiny is the commander-in-chief of the most powerful black nation on earth and the biggest economy in
Africa .Growing up like every Nigerian child , he is a native of Otuoke in
Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa .He was born on November
20th ,1957 to the family of MrEbele Jonathan .A man of
intelligence , who later become a quintessential democrat and a resolute meritocrat in his selfless service to
humanity with visionary leadership that
is hard to find in this part of the
world .
He attended St. Stephen primary School now Osuoke State school .He proceeded to St.Michael
primary School in Oloibiri where oil was discovered in 1956.There, he passed for the first time in his first attempt school leaving certificate .At Master Dei high School in 1971-Imiringi he furthered
his education and by 1975 had sat for the West African school certificate which
ended with flying colours .At a tender age his rare disposition was quickly
noted by his paternal grandmother .Little wonder he nicknamed him ‘Azikiwe’ as
a striking similarity to the great Zik of Africa .In 1973 he was appointed
class prefect at class 3 and also appointed secretary to the school food committee due to uncommon brilliance and
emerging visionary leadership .He became masterson house prefect in Class 4 and 5 in addition to been
appointed unanimously by his peers as the chairman of the committee of prefects
.He soon secured after school the post of a preventive officer in the
Customs and Excise Department between
1975 -1977.
However , as a
result of academic brilliance ,ambition and yearnings
for the neplusulstra ,he was admitted as a pioneer student in the Zoology
department of the then newly founded University of Port Harcourt in 1977.In
1981 , he graduated with B.Sc.Hons second class upper division and proceeded to serve at the Corps .Between
1981-82,he served in the community secondary school-Iresi in the then Oyo State now Osun State .He was
appointed by the old Rivers State civil
Service commission in 1982 after youth service and became science inspector in
the Ministry of education .After the civil service he went straight into
academics to serve in a college of education on purely academics in the Biology department in November 1983 .He
was appointed as representative of the congress
in the senior staff appointment
and promotion committee.After a decade of service went back to academics for
the post graduate studies in the same University of Port Harcourt.He carted
away and bagged every honourworthy of
highly educated classincluding Master of Science degree in hydrobiology
and fisheries and later Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology
in 1985 and 1995 respectively .
Dusting every previous achievement ,moved up an inch in the
elite ladder of modern Nigerian society .This urge for legendary exploits began
with the appointment as an
assistant director in the defunct
Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commision-OMPADEC
in March 1993 .He directed the affairs of the environmental protection sub-department under the directorate of
environmental protection and pollution
control where he was posted .
He belong to numerous professional bodies such as fisheries
society of Nigeria –FISON,fellow of international association of impact
assessment –AIA, awarded the
prestigious fellowship of the Nigerian
Environmental Society and in terms of environmental management ,his scorecard
was intimidating .He is also honorary fellowship of public administrators of
Nigeria-PAN.He was also awarded the best
performing deputy governor in 2002 by institute of public administrators of
Nigeria –IPAN and conferred with exemplary leadership Quality and Good
Governance Award by the National Association Of Women In
Education in July 2003 and the honorary
award for Democracy and Good Governance as conferred by NUJ Abuja
Council .
Goodluck Jonathan –a rare Nigerian , a quintessential
humanist with simple minded egalitarian virtues later ventured into muddy waters of the Nigerian politics .Given the magnitude of the socioeconomic challenges
plaguing the South South and the strategic interest of the larger Nigeria
tortured by infrastructural inadequacies ,it did not take him so long to realize his calling and
fulfill his destiny and contribute his quota
to raise the quality of governance in this part of the world .He started
politics with fourth republic and pitched tent with the people democratic party
–PDP.He became a deputy to the party ‘s
flagbearer –DiepreyeAlamieyeseigha
and won together with him the polls in the election of 1999 .With
this great privilege ,he became the first deputy governor in the history of Bayelsa .They also secured
the mandate and the ticket for the second tenure from the electorate in Bayelsa
and Goodluck was fully in charge and control of the AlamieseighaCampaign train
popularly known as ALAMCO .
His venture into
politics has brought a lot of peace and stability to the State and created an environment
devoid of chaos and violence .Politics without rancor and acrimony was rampant in the Ogbia area and political
enterprise . As a happily married to Mrs Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan and the Union is blessed with two siblings
and as a family man with all sense of responsibilities , a technocrat ,and a
bridge builder and a perfect gentle with all sense of extreme candour of
humility ,of course the history of egalitarian and grassroot politics in the
country can not be complete without him .Having done creditably well as
historic deputy Governor in the Alamco
campaign machinery for the second ticket and serving faithfully Governor
Alamieseigha in 2003 , the coast was clear to progress further abit and providence smiled upon him once again to
move closer towards fulfillment of his destiny especially with indictment of
his boss-the State Governor by the economic
and financial crime commission
–EFCC on corruption charges in 2006 .He was later impeached by the State house of Assembly legislators
paving the way for deputy –Ebele Jonathan to become second Governor of Bayelsa who was sworn in on a platter of gold .How time flies .Towards the end of his tenure Ebele shines
again and moved closer to destiny ,when he was surprisingly chosen and declared as the running mate to PDP
Presidential candidate –Alhaji Umar Musa
Yar’adua for the 2007 general elections
. With this selection , the bookmarkers were confounded and the bliss of the
State Governor later paved way for the rise of a new colossus .Between December
2005 and May 2007 he was the official Governor of
Bayelsa and thereafter reached the
acme or fortunate with the breath of apotheosis when he was sworn in on May
29,2007 as the vice president of the federal republic of Nigeria ,and
then on May 6, 2010 was also sworn in as acting President .
In the election of 2007 Ebele was unanimously selected as the best out of the three
Gubernatorial candidates in the State
and none of them could match him without boast as the aspirants to beat.Infact
prior to December
12, 2005 ,Bayelsa State had suffered from ‘’environmental degradation ,political marginalization and
economic deprivation ‘’ as popularly coined by Dr Ken SaroWiwa –a period
in which darkness engulfed the State and
rays of moral optimism for better
tomorrow difficult to come by and human and infrastructural development
nonexistent in the region .Barely six months into the position of the Governor
of the State from the deputy of a previous administration ,Bayelsa not only
heaved a deep sigh of relief but that a
Daniel has come out at last out of the Lion’s den .During the embryonic period
he proved critics wrong and through tireless infrastructural development
projects opened up the rural areas linking
the three senatorial districts in the State with construction of roads especially in the
riverine parts of Bayelsa to the State capital in Yenagoa.They so much had confidence in
him and having believed and convinced
he was a performer the State house of Assembly passed a resolution
urging Governor Ebeleto continue in office
beyond 2007 irrespective of the political implication and the cost
involved .The vote of confidence
initiated by the 24 member of States house was passed on Ebele in view of the unprecedented feats and boon to governance in the State .The resolution
passed on June 9 ,2006 by the legislature
noted the achievements of
Jonathan’s administration as evident in all sectors of the economy and
the annals of the history of the State This was remarkable and the lawmakers were overwhelmed about the possibility of such feat in 6months .
According to The Source magazine, the Speaker of the
legislature WerinipreSeibarugunoted that although there are some other
governorship aspirants in the State the resolution however in the best interest of the State and the
generality of Bayelsansurging them to support and cooperate with the
administration rather than dissipate energy on campaign rivalry and political
rancor .The Speaker also debunked rumours or insinuations that the lawmakers
were induced to adopt resolution .Chief Perekeme Richard –Kpodoh was a former
gubernatorial aspirant of the All Nigeria People Congress-ANPP who later joined
the PDP .He noted the adoption of the resolution by the Assembly singlehandedly paved for goodluck being
elected unopposed or that the victory of the coming election was long sealed
the moment the resolution was passed and swept the polls in the following
election .Together with destiny and his unusual level of egalitarian propensity
and extreme humility ,were responsible for the catapult into apotheosis .end of
Part one
PART TWO……The New
Political Order
A couple of events had happened at this most critical period
in the nation ‘s history for this unprecedented feat of a new political order basically power shift
from the North to occur which ushered
in the first man from the minority tribes to rule Nigeria .When former
President Yar’adua left the country on official medical trips
to Saudi Arabia on November 2009 without official provision and order for his
successor to undertake his duties .The federal high court on January 13
,2010 handed over power to Good luck
Jonathan to assume duties of State
affairs . Even the aftermath of nationwide altercation that followed the
controversial medical trips gave him standing ovation from the Senate which on February
9, 2010 confirmed his legitimate power as President of federal republic of
Nigeria and commander- in- chief of the armed forces . He was under mandate to
act as President of federal republic with all the legitimate powers
in control of State apparatus untilMrPresident returned to
full health .Although the
constitution dictates that an official letter be written stating Mr President incapability to serve
,however this provision was not enforced
and the constitutionality of the action taken was therefore interrogated
.Little wonder ,the opposition lawyers
spotted the lacuna and described the
power transfers as ‘’coup without
word ‘’.This ended the 78 days of power vacuum
in the Africa ‘s largest nation and oil biggest economy .
By the time of the return of the valeditunarian
President to office on February 24,2010,
,his incapability to serve was more than proven
as a true hearty president of federal republic of Nigeria .This was clear
enough for Ebele Jonathan to become the
new face of governance- a landmark journey that began in 1998 when he ventured
in to hardy climate of Nigerian politics .According to a media source ‘’As his
name suggests ,Nigeria ‘s President Goodluck Jonathan has a habbit
of being in the right place at the right time ‘’. Barely 12 hours after the death of President Yar’adua ,the South Southerner gentleman’s
gentleman and a low key former deputy Governor was sworn in as
President of Federal republic of Nigeria
.He is easily regarded as the luckiest
politician ever in the history of the Nigerian politics .He is also said to be the humblest man ever in the
Nigerian politics or ever to rule Nigeria
and an unshakeable apologist in the unity of the modern day Nigeria .
……The Transformation Agenda
The transformation
agenda took the country by storm when mr President took oath of office on 29
May ,2011 .In realization of the magnitude of the nation’s predicaments and
people’s expectation from him ,Mr President set up a research team with a pledge and evolution of policy
package tagged ‘Transformation Agenda ‘-A FIVE YEAR DEVELOPMENT
PLAN-2011-2015 designed by 28 world class technocrats headed by Mr President himself and coordinated by DrNgozi-OkonjoNweala a
renowned economist and minister of Finance .The Agenda is focused on three
major key areas which include all encompassing and non-inflationary growth
,employment generation and poverty alleviation;andvalue reorientation of the
people .With the 13 key sectors being used as the Springboard and a well
thought out policy document ,arrays of rich political,financial
and human resources , under a growing maturity of the governance institutions and
a world class economic management team
,Mr President hopes to transform the country .
Every economy is faced with a challenge which can make or
mar the practice or professionalism of nation building depending on the
tradition of existing leadership and the
artistic ingenuity of its followership.But it is the role of effective
governance to surmount them as they come
.Nigeria is not an exception ,likewise Mr President and ever since he took
the oath of office, most of the immediate challengesw surrounding the P
residency were surmounted .
In 2011 as noted on his facebookMr President observed that ;
‘’Undoubtedly 2011
was a year laced with challenges .While we have made progress and overcame most of the challenges on many
fields ,there have been those amongst us who want to impose their will on the
generality of most us ‘’He however concluded that the year inspite of the
threat of some individuals to impose ntheir will on the majority will be a
turning point in the history of the
nation.
Statistically ,to be candid ,many positive ratings both
local and international were associated with the year .The year 2011 was
described as watershed in the history of the nation and the most credible
election ever held since the return to democraticor civil rule was associated
with that year .Litttle wonder Mr President noted such monumental achievement
ought to be celebrated There are empirircal evidence and solid data to support
this axiom.TheOsun State election conducted in 2014 which followed the Ekiti State
election had broken record set by Ebele Jonathan in 2011-with the latter
boasting of 47 percent voters turnout some earlier before the Osun State
election that paraded the highest voters
turnout –about 54 percent of voters population in the State breaking the
previous record.These are certainly historical landmark and undiluted pedigree
of this administration
In the year 2011 , human development index –HDI according to
united nation development programme—UNDP,life expectancy rose to 51.90 from
47.56 years in 2010 a 10 percent surge and
biggest margin ever recorded since records were kept in this regard .According
to the presidency this affirmed the returns from massive investment in the
health sectors by the administration.The international social security
association also corroborated UNDP data by awarding the 2011 prize for the best
infant reducing and maternal mortality intervention in Africa to the country
.While the credit ratings of many countries were revised downward in October
2011.Fitch international rating agency –a competitor to Moody’s and Standard
and Poor 500 revised upward the nation’s rating outlook from negative to stable .Though some it was a
fluke but certainly clearly unveiled the near prudent management of the
nation’s cscarce resources and evidence of ongoing radical economic reform of the administration.This
was the same country that started the year 2011 with negative credit ratings from the same
institution.
To make sure that the gains of this growth was sustainable
and thus trickle down to the peopleand the unborn generation ,Mr President launched the Nigerian Sovereign
Wealth Fund –SWF with a seed capital of a billion dollars This was subdivided
into three sections –the Nigerian infrastructure fund;the future generation fund;and
the stabilization funds as the pillars of SWF.
On October 11,2011 Mr President launched the youth
enterprise with innovation –YOUWIN initiative-a scheme designed to empower
youths with entrepreneurial youths with technical skills finance ,the need to start and grow
business and be self employed and also employer of labour.Likewise on November
30,2011the President directed that
cassava flour bread be commercialized and with this programme the year 2012 was
begun in earnest .Within 90 days in February 2012 ,commercialization was
successfully attained with the introduction of cassava bread laced with 20
percent cassava flour substitution for wheat flour .It was introduced into the
market by UTC the largest corporate bread baker in the country –an achievement
that was documented by the regime in a 155 page report entitled SURE AND STAEDY
TRANSFORMATION which also chronicled the
administration various achievements and the all the ministries
parataals and agencies and the federal capital territory-FCT .
According to Oronto Douglas –the special adviser on research and documentation ,Mr President
took over the mantle of leadership ‘’at a time of considerable political tension in the land ‘’He noted he was
determined to leave the nation far better than he met it and therefore with
that purpose of transformation’’ had managed to push his vision in the subsequent years until now
.Below we shall run a synopsis of the historical landmark of the GEJ
administration sector by sector and milestones that were attained in less than
four years that Obj did in 8 years of office.Turn to part three.Stay tuned .
PART THREE—Transformation Agenda And Sustainable Development
--1
In the part two we examine the new political order but in
this edition we shall look at the achievement of transformation agenda .
------The signing of freedom of information bill into law in May
2011 had been described as watershed in the nation’s antigraft crusade .This was a bill that had
been ignored since 1999 by successive administration giving the Nigerian a
breathing space and making as well a truly democractic .Though this requires
persistent enforcement .It is only the beginning .
In the midterm report , GEJ administration recorded some
level of consistencies in the area of
policy and infrastructural development and project implementation .Breathtaking
progress was made and clarifies the urge for policy consistencies in the country .Others include—
-------In the area of
power,the launching of power sector reform roadmap with clear implementation
framework is a reaffirmation of the urge
to resolve power crisis in the country.This also required or include a reinstatement
of the Nigerian electricity
regulator commission –NERC .It was reincorporated and reinvigorated with
efficient personel including its new chairmen ,and commissioners who took the
oath of office for the purpose of execution and provision of the appropriate regulatory functions
to move the moribund sector forward .Power holding company or NEPA was unbundled by this administration and used to create 18 successor companies to
promote efficiency in the generation and distribution of power in the country ;
---------In August 2011 ,Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading
Plc was formed including the appointment of its CEO and Board .With this
enabling environment ,NBET PLC therefore become the offtaker of power providing confidence to power generation companies
that they will be paid for every power they produced .It is more or less
a bulk market insurer and assurer.Moreover ,the administration promoted the use
of energy efficient bulb and lighting system
under the so called energy efficiency and energy conservation lighting
scheme.This was meant to create energy conservation culture .
---------The federal government entered into agreement with
General Electric and the MOU stipulates that the company will invest 15 percent
equity in power sector projects and about 10,000MW will be generated 2020.The
company also proposes to establish small aeroderivative turbine s local
packaging facility to promote job creation opportunities in the country ;
---------The memorandum of understanding –MOU with the
U.S,Exim Bank was initiated to provide
investment window and raised stake 1.5 billion dollars for interested investors
in the sector .Power generation has doubled under the administration from a
,mere 2,000MW to 4,502 MW by December 2012 being reported to be the highest
ever since 1999.It was expected to reach all-time high of 6,000MW by july 2013
and 10,000MW by December 2013 though it failed to materialized.By 2013 almost
all 10 major power plants under the national integrated power
project-NIPP had 95 percent
completion.The declaration of emergency in gas power supply has heavily
boosted power supply situation steadily in the country.Prior to the intervention
the nation suffers from heavy inadequacies of of gas .We now produce more gas
than ever needed for domestic consumption ;
-----------Under a transparent bidding process ,the power sector was successfully privatized mainly the DISCOs and the power distribution
companies . This was aimed at promoting
efficiency in national power supply.Excludingbureaucractic
bottlenecks ,with smooth transmission ,some parts of the country are
experiencing 14-16 hours of uninterrupted supply daily .
------In the area of agriculture , 14 new rice mills came on
board in 2012 with capacity to process
240 metric tones of rice set up by the private sector and a sum of
1.2billion dollars secured by the FGN.This was meant to install large scale
processing mill with capacity to produce 2.1million metric tones of rice per
annum.Generally, with this initiative and a host of other policy packages adopted as projected and envisaged led to creation of 4 million jobs in 2012
especially in the rural areas .Young Graduates Commercial Farmers Scheme took
off in 2013 with the goal to absorb
780,000 jobs for the graduates in the first phase and estimated 4 million jobs in the agricultural sector .in its first year
.Today the Nigerian nation has reached 60 percent in rice production.The food and agricultural
organisatiuon-FAO noted with this feat ,the Nigeria can contribute immensely to
raise in a year to a record high .The new goal by the ministry of finance with clear goal to make the nation
100 percent self sufficient in rice production by 2015 helped in this
direction.This will also bridged against forex wastage of 356 billion naira
being spent on rice importation annually as well as curbing 40 percent of wheat
imports which currently consumed 635
billion naira annually by 2015.
---------Dried cassava chips began in July 2012 .This
represented a mile stone or a first time in which such commercial scale of
dried chips will be exportedand earned 136 million dollars in foreign exchange
.The production of cotton has been rejuvenated and resuscitated particularly in the northeast and north western zones with government
distributing improved cotton seedlings and freely disposed to farmers. It would
interest you to know that the scrapping of petroleum trust fund –PTF set back the seedling sector in terms of
finance due to insensitive government and vulnerable world bank politics .This
is a good development that we are starting all over again .Self sufficiency in
cotton production and high quality will make the nation a highly competitive
textile market in the world market .Before the end of the 2015 will revive the
downstream and upstream of textile market in the country .The textile market was
formerly the largest employer of labour after government in the 70s and 80s .
--------As the largest
producer of cassava in the world with 34 million metric tons
per annum , Nigeria is beginning to increasingly pay more attention to its value additive agro allied output potentials and a host of
other staples .The agricultural transformation agenda of the ministry of agriculture according to
the midterm report attracted over 8 billion dollars into crop production
,agribusiness and a host other forms of
value addition ;
--------In term of fertilizer distribution ,corruption was massively reduced and previously 11 percent of farmers
had access to fertilizer and the rest sold to government cronies and
exported overseas .The administration has dismantled and burst the syndicate
that had existed for 40 years ,making
fertilizer freely available to the people especially farmers .Based on the
growth enhancement scheme-GES of the
ministry was purposely launched for the empowerment of the peasant farmers
.With this scheme ,farmers received 50 percent fertilizer subsidy for two bags
maximum .Through e-wallet system making use of mobile phones in 120 days , over
1.2 million farmers bought their subsidized products through this system .The
e-wallet system is the first of its kind in black Africa and a total of 138, 802 .7 metric tonnes of
fertilizer distributed including 10,974.78 m.t. of the seeds in various -517 active redemption centres out of total 804 centres nationwide were also
distributed .Countries are beginning to emulate wallet system .
--------World bodies including multilateral and bilateral
agencies and donor institutions have expressed optimism at the broad based
reforms and agricultural revolution taking the country by storm .They
pumped about 1billion dollars to
agricultural transformation agenda of the administration .This include
500million dollar from World bank group
and another 250million dollars from African Development Bank –ADB ,while the remnant flowed from Bill
Gate foundation and international fund for agriculture development –IFAD
,united States Agency for international development –DFID in the U.K.,TonyElumelu foundation ,Ford Foundation, United Nation
Development programme-UNDPaccounted for the remainder and also provided
technical support facilities ;
---------In the area of water and water resources management ,the
Presidential Summmit organized in
Feb.2013 on water was aimed to seek more ways
of effective usage and preservation of national water and to increase
the availability of water .This is in line with United Nation -U.N.July 2010 resolution on ‘’the right to
water ‘’of 2013 .This formally acknowledges
every person’s right to water .The publication and the release of 2013
Annual Flood Outlook report for Nigeria’’was targeted to the curbing of flooding menace and to
prevent flood disaster repetition
according to the experience of 2012 .It evaluated flood mishap and
scenarios ,analysed and cited highly affected places in 2013 .It also expected
contribution from members of the public
on how to best control and anticipates flood disaster especially with the increase of rainfall of
2013;
---------12 River Basins Development Authorities –RBDA were
revitalized nationwide .They have contributed immensely to the growth in food
production ,revival of equipment and facilities , revamp and rehabilitate productions’ unit such as rice milling and bottling
of water ,development of fisheries and fisheries production etc.It enhanced redistribution and
redevelopment of idle tools,improved water management, optimized technology use
, within basin catchment .For in the
Chad and Hadejia –Jamara basins ,water resources ministry repaired Challawa
Gates for water downstream flow .With nine dams completed in 2012 , about
125,000 jobs were created with ten irrigation projects deployed for crop production and the completion of
four other irrigation projects were commissioned .Sanitisation Vs. Attitudinal Change Programmes for local
residents were embarked upon in 125 local governments and 52,384 jobs
created in 2012 from the completed four
irrigation projects boosting farm productivity and economic growth.;
---------OIL and gas is experiencing phenomenal facelift
with a broadbased reform package of the administration.Mr President forwarded
the national petroleum industry billto the national assembly for passage into law.In line with global best
practices and the Nigerian Extractive Industry
Transparency Initiatives-NEITI, it is vital that aproperly transformed
oil industry can singlehandedly turns
the fate of the economy around.With this passage and breaking the jinx of business sharp
practices in the country ,Nigeria is expected to earn an historic and a
whooping estimated 680billion dollars being contributed to the GDP annually .Relentless efforts were made by the
administration in battling against national treasury kleptocracy , crude oil siphoning and subsidy theft in record numbers in
addition to forensic scrutiny being undertaken by various agencies and national
committees headed by Mr President ;
----------About 125 Almajiri schools and about three new
additional public universities in the North raising the total varsities established to 12
so far .About 352 laboratories
rehabilitated and 72 new libraries constructed in the unity federal
schools . In all 51 federal and State
polytechnics ,existing libraries were also fully rehabilitated ;
---------About four
power generation companies and 10
power distribution companies were fully privatized.While 10 power plants under National Integrated power projects –NIPP were planned for
privitisation .The award of additional 1.5 billion dollars facility for upgrade
of transmission network to stimulate and boost power generation and delivery
above 18 hours daily .This was basically informed by the need for effective
system evaluation and solid distribution
of power;
---------Even though it could have been drastically
eradicated ,public waste and wastage of
public funds especially on
frivolous foreign travels had been heavily curtailed in all personnels
,government ministries ,departments and agencies .The deployment of three
electronic platforms such as treasury single account –TSA ,Government Integratedfinancial
management information system -GIFMIS.and the integrated payroll and personnel
information system-IPPIS.
----------The population of private sector seed companies is
growing exponentially from 10 to 70 in
just one year .Over 7 billion dollars
have been invested in the expansion of
fertilizers manufacturing plants which will make the nation the
largest exporter of fertilizer in Africa
like we did in cement .Agricultural lending as a share of bank lending rose to
6 percent from 2 percent in two years .
………….In the area of pension reforms the administration has remained committed and
problems of falsification of records,ghostpensioners,obsolete mechanism and fraudulent siphoning of state pension funds
.In this context , pension Reform Task team set up by MrPresident. The
taskforce has achieved the
following; the detection and deletion
of 73 000 fake and ghost workers from
head of service /police pension office ;monthly theft of 4billionaira stopped
from national treasury ;the discovery of over 50,000unpaid pensioners in
addittion to payment of their
entitlements ;200 properties seized and pension fraud suspects were arrested by economic and financial crime
commission –EFCC ;and the introduction
of foolproof pension management system .
Stay tuned for Part
four .
PART FOUR ---Transformation Agenda And Sustainable
Development-2
………….In the rail sector for
decades the Lagos-Kano train service prior to reactivation had been
heavily moribund which was ended by the
inauguration of GEJ administration .Port Harcourt to Maiduguri totally rehabilitated and Zaria/KauraNamoda
rail route was under fix .The Abuja to Kaduna 187km rail project by 2012 was
more than 30 percent completed .The Ajaokuta to Warri Standard gauge rail line
that provides ease of less than 4 hours of travel between the middle belt and
South South was completed .The Lagos-Ibadan could have been five lanes each
under Bicourtney now dualised with rail
line initiated in 2011 .The Abuja-Light rail system is undergoing
implementation meant to improve transportation in the State capital especially
those in the Satellite towns .As at the time of going to the press , the Lagos
Kano trains convey about 14,000 passengers daily at a minimum fare of 1,500
naira .
…………..With the churning out of modalities from the ministry
of works for the execution of the dualisation of keffi-Laffia –Makurdi –Enugu
-9th mile],the construction of roads in Nassarawa Benueand Enugu
States had begun in earnest with funds form the export-import Bank of China .
…………..In 2012 a total of 651km of roads paved and laced with
bituminous layers were constructed ;a total of 32 highway projects completed
during the period .New roads and bridges were constructed following the
devastating effects of floods in some parts of the country in addition to the
reinstallation of washed out embankments
.The operation safe passage program me of the federal ministry of
works was unveiled on the order of Mr
President .It was aimed at melioration of the road mishap or deplorable state
of our roads during the festive season .The programs cover the six geopolitical
zones in the country with focus on key roads which were fully rehabilitated
.Out of 80 projects prioritized in 2012 , two completed and another three
completed while 18 were between 50 to 79 percent completed Oronto Douglas
special adviser on research ,strategy and documentation also noted virtually
every sector of the economy was touched as GEJ administration attempted to
leave the nation a much transformed country .
…………..In the area of aviation about 22 airports at the end
of 2011 were earmarked for
rehabilitation .By October 2012 over 50 percent had been commissioned for public operation
and the rest scheduled for completion in 2013 .The ministry did not waste time
under the former minister Stella Oduah to finish the job which earned indelible
footprint on the sands of time and the best minister of aviation ever in the
nation’s though the moniker did not come without a cost-air fatality did not
abate .Today they were successfully remodeled and rehabilitated and comparable to some of the best airports
in the world.Over 10 billion was approved for the construction of new
airports and not just remodeling .These new terminals covered Lagos
,Abuja ,Enugu , Kano , Port Harcourt as well as six cargo terminals under
public-private participation .AkanuIbiam Airport came onboard in the East –the
best federal project in the region since the civil war by a feral power –Indeed
a true son of the soil.SamMbakwe Airport , Imo
Airport was not left behind .So
for the first time in 30 years ,22 airports were succcsfully remodeled and
constructed .
All federal airports have also been successfully equipped
with much needed facilities and latest navigational aids to facilitate and
enhance air transport safety in the country .For instance O.Douglas noted prior
to this administration ,the country had no Doppler weather radar system.This
lack of much needed facility ordinarily hamper the Nigerian meteorological
agency-NIMET to accuratel predict and
read movement of hazardous weather
systems in the Nigerian air space –a situation that the administration had
corrected and many of such facilities had been across the airports nationwide .
………...The Nigerian rail service is coming up after many years in doldrum and comatose
.For a decade now ,Lagos-Kano train
service had been moribund prior to
inauguration or emergence of GEJ administration .Port Harcourt to Maiduguri
heavily rehabilitated and Zaria /kauraNamoda
rail route was under fix and Abuja to kaduna rail route about 187 km by 2012 was more than 30 percent completed .The Ajaokuta
–Warri standard gauge rail line that
provides ease of less than 4hours of
travel between the middle belt and the south south was already completed .In
2011 Lagos –Ibadan rail line-a standard gauge project was initiated. Several feasibility studies
had been conducted which led to commissioning of new rail projects and new rail
corridors concessioned to local and foreign companies and investors envisaged
to generate 10 million jobs for the past
2013 and then 2014 through planned rail
concessioning
In the year 2013 ,the administration also made giant stride
in some sectors of the economy .With the emergence of 2014 ,in a new year
message by Mr President who reeled out some of the achievements of the year
2013 he concluded the 2013 achievement would be consolidated upon in the year 2014.In the synopsis of the presidential
review ,some of the achievements of year 2013 as included are hereby noted below ;
…………The transformation agenda was focused on key priority
areas from infrastructure development to education and power .Inspite of the
miasma of economic challenges , about 1.6 million jobs were created in year
2013 .
………….The commencement
and implementation of nation al industrial revolution plan –NIRP with
the main goal of industrializing the country and diversification of the Nigerian economy into new aresa such
agriculture ,agroallied processing , light manufacturing and petrochemicals ;
………….The successful negotiation of a robust common external
tarrif –CET agreement with the community
of west African States –ECOWAS and partners on the need for protectionism in
favour of strategic local industries ;
………..Nigeria moved for the first time in history from being
a net importer of cement to a net exporter
of cement with exponential rise of production from a mere 2million
metric tones to in 2002 to 28.5million metric tones in 2013 ;
…………..Nigeria also for the first time in her history has
become the no -1 destination for investment in Africa –an achievement that was
attributed to the country by the United nation conference on trade and
development –UNCTAD for the second year running ;
…………..In the area of agriculture revolutionary policy has
been deployed to tackle unbridled corruption substantially especially in the
fertilizer input distribution system and
new seedlings as farmers now obtain them at a far more subsidized rate.In the
programme of 2013 about 4.2 million farmers received inputs at a heavily subsidized rates .This to a larger extent has restored sanity
to local farmers and integrity to the nation ;
……………Excess food were produced during the period –a whooping
8 million metric tones in surplus bringing down official inflation down to its
lowest ebbs since 2008 .Consequently ,the nation’s import bill was reduced from
1.1 trillion naira in 201 to 648 billion naira in 2012 which paved the towards
food security – a situation if sustained can not only make nation self
sufficient at home but also like Demark as food basket of Europe become the
food basket of Africa and this can only be the beginning;
…………..Between 2007 to 2012 ,allocation to education tripled
.It grew from 224 billion naira to 634 billion naira .
PART FIVE ……….The Transformation Agenda and Sustainable
Development-3
……………………………CONTD.
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