Below are the key highlights from the nationwide broadcast by President Bola Tinubu on the occasion of the Independence Day.
- Reforms carried out on political economy and defence architectures.
2. Winning the war on terror and banditry. Over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders have been eliminated by our gallant troops in the Northeast, Northwest, and some other parts of the country.
3. Created Disaster Relief Fund to mobilise private and public sector funds to help us respond faster to emergencies.
4. Our government has also ordered integrity tests of all our dams in the country to avert future disasters.
5. Thanks to the reforms, our country attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30 billion in the last year.
6. The ExxonMobil Seplat divestment will receive ministerial approval in a matter of days, having been concluded by the regulator, NUPRC, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
7. We inherited a reserve of over $33 billion 16 months ago.
8. We have paid back the inherited forex backlog of $7 billion. We have cleared the ways and means debt of over N30 trillion.
9. We have reduced the debt service ratio from 97 per cent to 68 per cent.
10. We have managed to keep our foreign reserve at $37 billion.
11. We are resolute in our determination to implement the Supreme Court judgment on the financial autonomy of local governments.
12. We are implementing many measures to reduce the cost of living here at home.
13. I commend the Governors particularly, in Kebbi, Niger, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa, and the Southwest Governors that have embraced our agricultural production programme.
14, The Federal Executive Council approved establishing a local assembly plant for 2000 John Deere tractors, combine harvesters, disc riders, bottom ploughs and other farm equipment. The plant has a completion time of six months.
15. The Federal Government is ready to assist the thirty-six States and FCT in acquiring CNG buses for cheaper public transportation.
16. Convocation of a National Youth Conference. This conference will be a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who constitute more than 60 per cent of our population.
17. We are implementing, amongst others, the three million Technical Talents programme (3MTT) of the ministry of communications, innovation and digital economy, aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone.
18. Implementation of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which provides cheap loans to our students to pursue their tertiary educational dreams.
19. The government will launch The Renewed Hope Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme (LEEP) as a comprehensive suite of interventions at job creation by the federal ministry of labour and employment that is aimed at facilitating the creation of 2.5 million jobs, directly and indirectly, on an annual incremental basis whilst simultaneously ensuring the welfare and safety of workers across the country.
20. As is the tradition, the government will soon announce all the beneficiaries of our national honours for 2024.
21.The Senate President and the Chief Justice of the Federation have been conferred with the honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
22. The deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives have the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), while the deputy speaker of the House has been awarded Commander of the Order of Niger (CON).
