“Having laid the groundwork of our economic recovery plans within the last seven months of 2023, we are now poised to accelerate the pace of our service delivery across sectors.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given an assurance that Nigerians can expect a more fulfilling year in 2024.
He stated that his administration’s reforms would cause a significant economic leap across all sectors.
President Tinubu said workers would savour a new minimum wage during the year in fulfilment of his administration’s commitment to improved welfare.
The President, who gave these assurances in his New Year message, also promised improved security.
President Tinubu, who acknowledged the effects of the harsh economic situation, urged Nigerians to keep hope alive.
He said: “I am well aware that for some time now the conversations and debates have centred on the rising cost of living, high inflation which is now above 28 per cent and the unacceptable high under-employment rate.
“From the boardrooms at Broad Street in Lagos to the main streets of Kano and Nembe Creeks in Bayelsa, I hear the groans of Nigerians who work hard every day to provide for themselves and their families.
“I am not oblivious of the expressed and sometimes unexpressed frustrations of my fellow citizens. I know for a fact that some of our compatriots are even asking if this is how our administration wants to renew their hope.”
He added: “Dear Compatriots, take this from me: the time may be rough and tough, however, our spirit must remain unbowed because tough times never last. We are made for this period, never to flinch, never to falter. The socio-economic challenges of today should energise and rekindle our love and faith in the promise of Nigeria.
“Our current circumstances should make us resolve to work better for the good of our beloved nation. Our situation should make us resolve that this New Year 2024, each and every one of us will commit to be better citizens.”
Also in their messages, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas assured that better days were coming.
President Tinubu said the foundations laid by his Administration in the last seven months would propel the country forward in the new year.
He highlighted that the administration’s efforts had yielded positive results in many sectors, including power, energy, agriculture and food security.
On security, the President said: “Silently, we have worked to free captives from abductors. While we can’t beat our chest yet that we have solved all the security problems, we are working hard to ensure that we all have peace of mind in our homes, places of work and on the roads.”
Painting a picture of brighter economic prospects, he said: “Having laid the groundwork of our economic recovery plans within the last seven months of 2023, we are now poised to accelerate the pace of our service delivery across sectors.”
President Tinubu stressed: “Just this past December during COP28 in Dubai, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and I agreed and committed to a new deal to speed up the delivery of the Siemens Energy power project that will ultimately deliver a reliable supply of electricity to our homes and businesses under the Presidential Power Initiative, which began in 2018. Other power installation projects to strengthen the reliability of our transmission lines and optimise the integrity of our National grid are ongoing across the country.
“My administration recognises that no meaningful economic transformation can happen without a steady electricity supply.
“In 2024, we are moving a step further in our quest to restart local refining of petroleum products with Port Harcourt Refinery, and the Dangote Refinery, which shall fully come on stream.
“To ensure constant food supply, security and affordability, we will step up our plan to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands across the country to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet and other staple crops. We launched the dry season farming with 120,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State last November under our National Wheat Development Programme.”
President Tinubu said in the new year, the government will guarantee a conducive climate for ease of doing business.
He said: “In this new year, we will race against time to ensure all the fiscal and tax policies reforms we need to put in place are codified and simplified to ensure the business environment does not destroy value.
“On every foreign trip I have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been the same: Nigeria is ready and open for business. I will fight every obstacle that impedes business competitiveness in Nigeria and I will not hesitate to remove any clog hindering our path to making Nigeria a destination of choice for local and foreign investments.
“In my 2024 Budget presentation to the National Assembly, I listed my administration’s eight priority areas to include national defence and internal security, job creation, macro-economic stability, investment environment optimisation, human capital development, poverty reduction and social security. Because we take our development agenda very seriously, our 2024 budget reflects the premium we placed on achieving our governance objectives.”
President Tinubu said despite the challenges of 2023, the year was still remarkable because Nigerians witnessed an orderly transfer of power in a general election.
He said: “Though the past year was a very challenging one, it was eventful in so many ways. For our country, it was a transition year that saw a peaceful, orderly and successful transfer of power from one administration to another, marking yet another remarkable step in our 24 years of unbroken democracy.
“It was a year you the gracious people of this blessed nation entrusted your faith in me with a clear mandate to make our country better, to revamp our economy, restore security within our borders, revitalise our floundering industrial sector, boost agricultural production, increase national productivity and set our country on an irreversible path towards national greatness that we and future generations will forever be proud of.”
Alluding to his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, the president said in the last seven months, he has saved the country from fiscal catastrophe.
He stressed: “One of those decisions was the removal of fuel subsidy, which had become an unsustainable financial burden on our country for more than four decades.
“Another was the removal of the chokehold of few people on our foreign exchange system that benefited only the rich and the most powerful among us.
“Without doubt, these two decisions brought some discomfort to individuals, families and businesses.”
President Tinubu unfolded plans for a new living wage for workers in fulfilment of his administration’s commitment to improved welfare.
He said: “We will work diligently to make sure every Nigerian feels the impact of their government. The economic aspirations and the material well-being of the poor, the most vulnerable and the working people shall not be neglected.
“It is in this spirit that we are going to implement a new national living wage for our industrious workers this new year. It is not only good economics to do this, it is also a morally and politically correct thing to do.”
The President charged his ministers and other appointees to live up to expectation or be ready to quit.
He said having taken the oath to serve the country, there is no excuse for poor performance.
The President added: “It is the reason I put in place a Policy Coordination, Evaluation, Monitoring and Delivery Unit in the Presidency to make sure that governance output improves the living conditions of our people. We have set the parameters for evaluation. Within the first quarter of this new year, ministers and heads of agencies with a future in this administration that I lead will continue to show themselves.”
The President promised to create an environment where Nigerians would reap rewards for honest labour.
He said: “My major ambition in government as a Senator in the aborted Third Republic, as Governor of Lagos State for eight years and now as the President of this blessed country is to build a fair and equitable society and close the widening inequality.
“While I believe the rich should enjoy their legitimately earned wealth, our minimum bargain must be that any Nigerian that works hard and diligent enough will have a chance to get ahead in life.
“I must add that because God didn’t create us with equal talents and strengths, I can not guarantee that we will have equal outcomes when we work hard.”
“But my government, in this new year 2024 and beyond, will work to give every Nigerian equal opportunity to strive and to thrive.”
