June 12: We are establishing a solid foundation for future success – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigerian are establishing a solid foundation for future success just as he said that our democracy thus far has been a collective struggle.
The President made this known in his Democracy Day remark to mark the 21 years of uninterrupted civil administration in Nigeria.
The President congratulated all Nigerians and particularly leaders of democratic institutions on their resilience and determination to ensure that Nigeria remains a shining example of democracy.
The President who listed some of his notable achievements said that Nigeria has ‘witnessed eleven quarters of consecutive GDP growth since exiting recession. The GDP grew from 1.91% in 2018 to 2.27% in 2019 but declined to 1.87% in the first quarter of 2020 as a result of the decline in global economic activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.We have recorded notable achievements in the course of implementing our nine priority objectives and are establishing a solid foundation for future success.
He also said that in order to stabilize the economy, the Monetary Authority took steps to build the external reserves which resulted in improved liquidity in the foreign exchange market. The external reserves grew from $33.42 billion on April 29th 2020 to about $36.00 billion in May, 2020 which is enough to finance seven months of import commitments.
On agriculture, he said that ‘it remains the key to our economic diversification strategy. The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative programme continues to deliver significant quantities of affordable and high-quality fertilizers to our farmers. This initiative has also revived 31 blending plants and created a significant number of direct and indirect jobs across the value chain.’
He said the government is also revamping the cotton, textile and garment sector via a CBN Textile Revival Intervention Fund that would considerably reduce foreign exchange spent on cotton and other textile imports.’
He further said that Nigeria has risen by 25 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking from 146th to 131st and is now rated as one of the top ten reforming countries.
On Power Sector he said that it remains very critical to meeting our industrial development aspirations and we are tackling the challenges that still exist in the delivery of power through different strategies.
Read more of National Broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari on Democracy Day, June 12th 2020
