Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has underscored collective participation as a critical element in nation-building and the sustenance of progress.
The Information Minister made this known at a World Press Conference in Abuja, Nigeria, to mark Nigeria’s 65th year of independence.
Idris, while hailing President Tinubu for “dismantling stubborn challenges in the process of national progress, noted that the Anniversary celebration serves as an avenue to reflect, weigh the present, and rally around a renewed purpose centred on repositioning Nigeria for a greater future.
“As we mark this 65th year since our Independence from Great Britain, we are all witnesses to the remarkable reforms taking shape at a pace never before seen. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing the needful; a committed, courageous and visionary leader dismantling stubborn cogs in the wheel of our national progress”.
He stressed that: “Under the Renewed Hope Agenda and its Eight (8) Priority Areas, President Tinubu is laying the building blocks for a national renewal anchored on prosperity, peace and unity. That is why the theme of this 65th Anniversary is “All Hands On Deck”—a direct and heartfelt call to all Nigerians and our friends and partners around the world to show understanding and to commit to supporting these landmark reforms.
Idris said the theme “All Hands on Deck” reflects Nigeria’s call for collective effort in consolidating progress under Tinubu’s leadership, noting reforms in education, health, infrastructure and economic diversification are already delivering results.#Reforms #Education #Health
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The Minister highlighted some of the achievements of the current administration.
” Our trade surplus continues to grow, with an increasing share of contributions from the non-oil sector. Declining inflation, a strengthening currency, falling food prices, growing external reserves—all of these are more eloquent testimony that we are on the right track,” he said.
According to the minister, from January 2026, Nigeria will commence implementation of the Tax Acts quartet, which will expand the nation’s revenue base while simultaneously simplifying tax collection and lessening the burden on our people.
“These new tax laws represent a huge leap forward for the Nigerian economy and for business, entrepreneurship and investment. With more revenue at its disposal, on account of the reforms, the Tinubu administration is investing heavily in the key components that will catalyse our collective growth and development: health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, energy security, regional and grassroots development, small business, youth, and national security,” he said.
He maintained that under the Presidential Metering Initiative, seven million smart meters would be delivered by 2027 to close the country’s metering gap, adding that:
“In oil and gas, the progress is equally unprecedented. We have seen a steady increase in oil production to meet our OPEC quota, and an equally steady reduction in oil losses to a 16-year low. Gas flaring is also at an all-time low, while new investments are flooding in to scale up gas exploration, processing, and distribution. New investments in deepwater oil and gas exploration have exceeded five billion dollars.
“We are advancing the AKK Gas Project and other critical gas pipelines, while frontier basin oil and gas exploration has resumed with the drilling of three oil wells in the Kolmani region of Bauchi and Gombe States,” he said.
According to him, the solid minerals sector is rising with investments such as the $50 million ASBA Lithium Plant in the FCT and the $600 million Avatar Lithium Plant in Nasarawa, which are improving government royalties between 2023 and 2024.
He said under President Tinubu, our nation is gradually recapturing the spirit of people-centred, grassroots development through the establishment of five new regional development commissions and a supervising federal ministry for regional development.
“We are in the middle of a road and transport infrastructure revolution, of which the flagship initiative is the one comprising the presidential legacy highways, designed to connect Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, enhance national integration and unlock new economic corridors. These landmark road projects are the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway; the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway; the 477-kilometre Trans-Saharan Highway traversing Calabar, Ebonyi, Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, and the FCT; and the 422-kilometre Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Expressway.
In the energy sector, he said the administration has revived the 255 MW Kaduna Power Plant, and it is determined to bring it to completion.
“The Presidential Power Initiative (aka Siemens power project) is on course, as is the Presidential Metering Initiative, a vital collaboration between the Federal and subnational governments, which will deliver 7 million smart meters to close the country’s metering gap by 2027.
The 65th Independence Anniversary celebration, with the theme ‘Nigeria@ 65: All Hands on Deck for a Greater Nation, called on all to steadfastly hold on to hope, unity, and patriotism.