Photo: President Bola Tinubu.
New Year: I’ll tackle electricity, security, fuel, agric, economic challenges, says Tinubu
President Bola has promised to tackle electricity, security, fuel, agric, economic challenges, especially foreign investment drive in a significant national broadcast, to Nigerians to mark the New Year 2024 celebration.
The President made this known in a speech which first took stock of the accomplishments of his administration since taking office seven months ago and his comprehensive plans for 2024 going forward.
On tackling electricity challenges, the President said: “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 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 steady electricity supply.”
The President also promised to tackling the perennial fuel problem in Nigeria by restarting local refining of petroleum.
“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,” he said.
President Tinubu also promised to boost the nation’s agricultural sector by massively accelerating efforts to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands nationwide to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet, and other staple crops in order to guarantee a steady supply, security, and affordability of food.
“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,” he said.
He also promised to create the enabling environment with a view to making Nigeria a preferred location for both domestic and foreign investments and driving direct foreign investment into the country.
Tinubu 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.”
The President also promised to actualize the 8 priority areas in his 2024 budget, namely, Security, job creation, poverty reduction, among others.
He said: “In my 2024 Budget presentation to the National Assembly, I listed my administration’s 8 priority areas to include national defence and internal security, job creation, macro-economic stability, investment environment optimization, 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.”
Earlier in the broadcast, the President reflected on his path to the presidency, while expressing appreciation for the resilience of Nigerians over the past 24 years of continuous democracy and underscoring his efforts to avert what he described as a fiscal disaster for the country.
He also expressed appreciation to Nigerians for their resilience in the face of the discomfort these caused them by difficult decisions he made since he assumed office, including the removal of fuel subsidies and reforms in the foreign exchange system and announced plans to accelerate service delivery across various sectors in 2024.
