The Nigerian government has said that in spite of daunting challenges, it has made tremendous progress in 2021.
At a world press conference in Lagos, South West Nigeria on Thursday, the country’s Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the administration has performed creditably in fighting insecurity, growing the economy, reforming the oil sector to spur more investments.
Alhaji Mohammed the government has been deliberate in putting in place world class infrastructure, providing social safety net for the poor and most vulnerable in the society and also taking advantage of the huge opportunities offered by the Information and Communications Technology Sector among others.
“What we have done here is to highlight the major achievements; hence this is by no means exhaustive. Success is not measured by the number of challenges you face, but by how you tackle the challenges. This is what the Administration has demonstrated by tackling insecurity headlong while also growing and diversifying the economy.”
The Minister then reassured the nation that President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to leave a legacy of a safe, secure and prosperous nation, he then urged the citizens not to relent in supporting the President and the country’s security forces, who continue to make sacrifices to keep our country safe.
The Minister who acknowledged that the biggest challenge in the outgoing year is in the area of security, however stated that the country’s military has continued to live up to their billing.
Fight against insecurity
The Minister revealed several efforts being deployed by the authorities to tackle insecurity across the land.
He however stated that the effectiveness of the military was enhanced by the leadership provided by President Muhammadu Buhari and the unwavering commitment of the armed forces and its leadership.
“The procurement of modern platforms for the armed forces has also gone a long way in raising the level of their operational readiness and efficiency, in addition to boosting their capabilities. During the period under review, the Nigerian Army procured 160 MRAPS, 150 trucks and 60 APCs to improve its equipment holding.
The Armed Forces of Nigeria has also contributed immensely to International peace and security efforts with its robust participation in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the regional initiative, the ECOWAS Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG).”
Alhaji Mohammed said to keep the country safe, the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) has set up various operations across the country. These include the Joint Task Force (JTF) North East, tagged Operation HADIN KAI covering the North East region; the JTF SS, tagged Operation DELTA SAFE covering the South South region; the JTF NW, known as Operation HADARIN DAJI covering the North West region; Operation SAFE HAVEN covering Plateau, parts of Kaduna and Bauchi States; Operation WHIRL STROKE covering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States and several others.
ECONOMY
The Minister disclosed that the Nigerian economy was hit by the pandemic in mid- 2020, and the economic disruptions led to a recession.
“The poor performance of the economy during the COVID-19 era affected output growth, trade, household welfare and livelihood. However, this led to a quick response by the federal government with the rolling out of effective fiscal and monetary policies as well as health-related policies intended to curb the spread of the pandemic and mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy”.
The Minister affirmed that some of the deliberate interventions and policies put in place is have yielded considerable results.
“For example, the country’s domestic growth in the first three quarters of 2021 was positive, recording real GDP of 0.51 percent in Q1, 5.01 percent in Q2 and 4.03 percent in Q3 2021, This was an improvement from a declining performance in the first three quarters of 2020 (which led to economic recession) put at 1.87 percent in Q1, -6.10 percent in Q2 and -3.62 percent in Q3 2020.
Nevertheless, the fourth quarter 2020 recorded a slight improvement of 0.11 percent, ushering in positive growth rates in the three quarters of 2021.
This economic performance in 2021 shows a steady improvement in growth over the last three quarters of 2020, and this can be attributed to government policies and strategies such as the Economic Sustainability Plan; theN500 billion COVID19 Crisis Intervention Fund etc.”
OIL AND GAS SECTOR
According to the Minister, one of the greatest achievements of the administration in 2021, and indeed in the past several decades, was recorded in the oil and gas sector, a sector he believes is very critical to the nation’s economic well-being.
“The passage and signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is a landmark achievement. Many have described it as the most profound event in the Nigerian oil and gas space in the last 20 years.”
The Petroleum Industry Act is envisaged to foster investment in the industry and delineate responsibilities to the various institutions to establish a commercialised National Oil Company, to entrench accountability and good governance and also to promote the exploration and exploitation of the petroleum resources in Nigeria for the benefit of all Nigerians. Alhaji Mohammed said once these are done, it will automatically foster the sustainable development of the host communities.
“Overall, the PIA serves to ensure the efficient and effective technical and operational regulation of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry through the formation of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, among others.”
Also worthy of note is the transformation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
INFRASTRUCTURE
According to the Minister, another area in which the present Administration has distinguished itself is in the provision of key infrastructures, which is important to the growth and development of any economy. He said the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing carried out the following projects in 2021.
(I) Nnewi-Uduma Road, Sections I and II (26.27km) in Enugu and Ebonyi States
(II) Kano-Maiduguri Road Section II (100.08KM),
(Shuwarin-Azare) in Jigawa and Bauchi States
(III) Kano-Maiduguri Road Section III (Azare-Potiskum) 106.34km in Bauchi and Yobe States
(IV) Vandeikya-Obudu Cattle Ranch Road Phase I and II(24km) in Benue and Cross River States
(V) Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega-Kontagora-Makera Road (304km)
Also, he said various highway and bridge projects at various stages of completion are ongoing across the six-geopolitical zones of the country.
“The Ministry of works and Housing is developing a Highway Development and Management Initiative, a framework for the private sector participation in road development.”
Most of the ongoing projects of the Ministry, especially the Highways Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), are already attracting massive infrastructural investment. It is envisaged that over a trillion-naira direct investment will be mobilized in the first phase of the HDMI”
Another area of infrastructure success recorded is the Aviation sector. Some of the vital projects embarked upon include; the construction and installation of Boeing 737 full motion flight Simulator at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria.
This development the Minister said will save Nigeria millions of dollars spent in the retraining of pilots in other countries; the installation of fully-automated Aircraft Firefighter Training Simulator also at NCAT, the first of its kind in Africa; Re-fleeting of Trainer Aircraft in NCAT with six aircraft so far.
There is also the installation of novel Cat III ILS/DME at Lagos and Abuja airports, instruments that will allow flights to land at low visibility, also the procurement of two mobile control towers in Lagos and Abuja and the designation of four International Airports in Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt as Special Economic Zones, aimed at encouraging business/investment.
“Definitely the most outstanding achievement in the transportation sector in 2021 is the flag-off of the commercial operation of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line in June 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The trains are currently conveying goods and services and reducing traffic and human pressure on infrastructural facilities on the Lagos-Ibadan highway.
Then there was the ground-breaking ceremony for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Narrow Gauge Railway project and the Bonny Deep Sea and Railway Industrial Park
President Buhari subsequently performed the ground breaking of the project, which traverses the major commercial centre of Kano and passes through other economic hubs of the country, including Kazaure, Daura, Katsina and up to the border town of Jibiya and the city of Maradi in Niger Republic
The country would earn revenue through expansion of trade and commerce, while the people of Niger Republic will benefit from the ease of transportation logistics at an affordable cost in their import and export business.”
In the area of water resources, the Minister disclosed that some 159 Rural Water Supply Schemes were constructed in the North-East, IDP camps and some Federal Institutions and Establishments by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in the year under review.
“In addition to the completion of 12 dams, the Ministry also embarked on the implementation of the Partnership for Expanded Water Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) programmes with the construction of 926 rural water supply schemes in 12 States”.
Away from infrastructure, the Federal Government has continued to implement the National Social Investment Programmes.
“On the directive of Mr. President, the N-Power has been expanded from 500,000 to 1 million beneficiaries.”
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
Alhaji Mohammed told the media that the country’s Digital Economy sector was highly instrumental in lifting the Nigerian economy out of recession. According to the Q4 2020 Report on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector recorded the highest growth rate of all the sectors of the Nigerian economy.
“The breakdown of the different sectors shows that the 14.7% growth rate of the ICT sector was greater than the combined 14.21% growth of the 2nd to 7th fastest growing sectors in 2020.
The telecommunications sector alone recorded a growth rate of 15.90%, representing its highest growth rate in the last 10 years.”
Dominica Nwabufo
