HIGHPOINTS OF NIGERIA’S PRESIDENT’S SPEECH TO MARK 19th Year Of Nigeria’s Democracy And 3rd Anniversary Of His Administration.

The president addressed the nation in a live broadcast which started at 7am lasted for almost 26 minutes, to explain what his administration has been able to do in the last three years.

Here are seven things we learnt from the president's Democracy Day speech:

1. Boko Haram President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration has degraded the capacity of the Boko Haram insurgency leading to the release of 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the insurgents He told Nigerians that government would not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors were brought to justice. In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on Internally Displaced Persons, Government has established secure IDP Camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities using various strategies in collaboration with local and international Organizations.

 2. Niger Delta The Niger Delta Region has enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the Elders and the good people of the region. Government is committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region. The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily. Furthermore farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest.

3. Fight against corruption President Buhari said the second primary object of this administration is to fight corruption headlong. Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.

4. N-power scheme The N-Power Job creation Scheme is targeted at providing jobs for unemployed young graduates and has so far recruited 200,000 youths while the next batch of 300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be deployed across the 36 States and the FCT. Furthermore, 20,000 non-graduate volunteers have also been selected to kick off the N-Build programme in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.

5. “Not Too Young to Run” Bill The president in his broadcast message said in a few days to come, he will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill. The #NotTooYoungToRun Bill seeks to alter the Section 65, 106, 131, 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President from 40 years to 30 years; Governor 35 to 30, Senate 35 to 30, House of Representatives 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly 30 to 25. The Bill also seeks to mainstream independent candidacy into Nigeria’s electoral process.

6. Nigerian transportation sector The Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. The nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu. Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes. The Railway Sector has also received tremendous attention as this administration is committed to the goal of linking all State capitals in the Federation by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers.

 7. Power In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators.

This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories. The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017. With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW.

This Administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure the operators of the distribution business live up to expectations especially in the areas of distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency, and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.