AFRIPOL.ORGIDEAS
HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Nigeria at 46 by
President Obasanjo
Broadcast by His Excellency, President
Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR at the occasion marked the 46th Independence
Anniversary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Abuja, October 1, 2006.
My dear compatriots, Happy Independence Anniversary.
Today is the 46th Anniversary of our
independence and four years from now, we will be celebrating half-a-century
of nationhood. Yes, we have had some mis-steps and challenges; mistakes have
been made, difficulties have been created, but in all these God has made us
to continue to survive as one strong indivisible nation.
God has made us to surmount difficulties that have compromised the health
and integrity of many nations.
God has given us victory over challenges and God continues to direct, guide
and sustain our steps and our progress. For all these and more, I give glory
to God Almighty.
In our statement on Thursday, I asked that both Nigerian Moslems and
Christians should make this weekend one of praise, thanksgiving and
reflection. We must also use the opportunity to pray for the souls of those
that departed this world through accidents and other causes in the past year
while thanking God for the strength He gave us to bear the losses and move
on as a people and a nation.
It is important for us to refresh our minds of where we started from in this
Administration, where we are and, of course, where we want to be. I will
take some key indicators to illustrate why we need to continue to thank God
unceasingly.
In 1999, we were a nation in deep crises, shunned by the world and steeped
in anger, violence, and instability at home and unsure of ourselves. Our
dignity, pride and morale had been thoroughly debased, contaminated,
corrupted and compromised. Today, we are loved by all, elected to important
positions in international organizations, receiving tourists and investors
at an unprecedented rate, and respected wherever we go.
Our GDP Growth at 1990 constant prices which was a mere 1.19per cent in 1999
rose to 6.23 in 2005 with the non-oil sector increasing from 4.37% in 1999
to 8.21per cent in 2005. The growth rate in agriculture which was 5.28per
cent in 1999 stood at 7per cent in 2006, solid minerals rose from 3.79per
cent to 9.50per cent, telecommunication from 5.39percent to 28.96per cent;
manufacturing from 3.44per cent to 9.41per cent; while wholesale and retail
trade increased from 2.50per cent in 1999 to 12.32per cent .
Inflation which was as high as 14.5% in 2000 has been reduced to 10.7per
cent, our foreign debt which was US$28.3 billion in 1999 has been reduced to
US$5.3 billion through an US$18 billion debt relief from the Paris Club and
repayments by Government. Our external reserve was a mere US$3.7 billion in
1999. Today we are almost US$45 billion.
Our agricultural policies are yielding very positive results as we are now
self-sufficient in poultry and poultry products and vegetable oil. We no
longer rely on imported juice drinks and our program for producing fruits
and vegetables locally is making very good progress. We are almost
self-sufficient in fish and fish products as well as in rice. Our cassava
production as well as cocoa and other crops have more than doubled and our
strategic grains reserve for the first time reached 150,000 metric tons.
We are now exporting cassava to China and other destinations just as we are
opening new trade routes to other parts of the world.
Our core welfare indicators are all on the positive trend. Life expectancy
has increased slightly from 54 to 57 years, our HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has
declined from 5.4 in 1999 to 4.4 in 2005, enrollment into primary, secondary
and university educational institutions has more than doubled. Adult
literacy rate has increased by 5.37per cent, and employment rates have gone
up by 7.40per cent.
We have invested heavily in core sectors of the economy such as water,
health, and transportation. Our banking reforms have produced fewer but
stronger, more reliable and efficient banks. We overhauled the pensions
system, introducing an effective and efficient contributory pensions scheme.
We also introduced a national health insurance scheme for the first time in
our nation’s history.
Our economic policies were effective enough to earn us favourable ratings
from credible international rating organisations, Fitch and Standard and
Poor for the first time. These improvements in our socio-economic profiles
have positively impacted on our per capita income and per capita private
consumption.
Without doubt, and on a comparative basis, we have done well. Our goal is to
give hope, confidence and comfort to all Nigerians. It is our desire to open
up new vistas of opportunities and possibilities for all. It is our design
to generate, strengthen and sustain the “can-do” spirit in all Nigerians. We
must thank God Almighty for His love, kindness, blessings and care.
I must personally thank all Nigerians for their understanding, love,
sacrifices, and support for our reform programme. We never said it was going
to be easy. But as we tolerated and watched our country decay and
deteriorate until it got to the precipice of collapse, so must we be
courageous enough to withstand the pains of reform in order to reap its
gains in full. We have done very well so far.
Impressive as these indicators of progress may be, we are still far from
where we should have been if we had gotten it right since 1960 and where we
now want to be. In the past we did not do many things right. But the few
things that we did right, we did not sustain doing them right. This time
with the Reform Agenda and the progress so far, we know that things are
happening and we are doing right and we intend to stay on course.
Staying on course requires that we maintain focus and commitment in our
Presidential Initiatives and drive for self-sufficiency in food production
and food security, increased exports to earn foreign exchange, and emphasis
on small and medium scale enterprises such as processing and manufacturing.
Staying focused and on course requires that we continue to work hard to make
Nigeria the major tourist destination in Africa through better
infrastructure, service delivery, security and safety, and better and more
attractive packaging of our products. We must produce more and add value to
products for both domestic and export markets.
Remaining on course means that we must complete our on-going power projects
that will give us 10,000 mega watts of power supply by the end of 2007 and
to continue to invest in more power generating initiatives like Mambila,
solar energy, wind energy and eventually nuclear energy.
We must complete our inter-modal transportation system, safer, more
efficient and affordable air transport, and waterways transportation to
reduce pressure on roads, ensure better roads network, and continue to make
progress on the new multi-billion dollar modern railway lines. We cannot
leave out ICT especially the computerization of our schools, hospitals,
businesses, and ministries to cut waste, secure information, promote
efficiency and service delivery. We must participate in outsourcing.
Our micro- and macro-economic policies must continue to emphasise
transparency, accountability, expansion, growth and product diversity. In
particular, the war against corruption must be deepened and sustained if we
are going to ensure the appropriate deployment of our scarce resources to
the right sectors and eliminate fiscal decay and indiscipline.
There will be no relenting on the fight against corruption. We have put our
hands on the plough and there is no looking back, going back or sliding
back.
We must continue to ensure and assure security of life and property all over
the country. This is why we also have to improve on the quality of men and
women in politics. Our political reforms, within the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and in other sectors are designed to deepen political
discourse, make politics issue-based, eliminate violence and indiscipline,
expand opportunities for participation for women, encourage the emergence of
new leaders, build bridges of understanding and cooperation, promote the
values of tolerance, accommodation, and dialogue, and build a credible
political structure for socio-economic advancement.
The sustenance of these measures in our Reform Agenda must continue. We
cannot afford to falter, be diverted, distracted, confused, discouraged,
intimidated or reversed. We must remain focused and resolute.
This is where our future, the well-being of our children, the security of
our nation, and the progress and stability of our communities lie. There is
no alternative to being consistent, supporting each other, exchanging and
embarking on best practices, insisting on service delivery, fighting waste
and corruption, and maximizing opportunities for promoting growth,
development and democracy. We must continue to enthrone equity, justice and
fairness in all our affairs and interaction in this land.
Those who believe that progress has not been made are either enemies of
progress who are also blind and deaf.
They are people who may never see any good in their own country and who
spend time celebrating every minor error or impute motive into every
disaster. Some are so mindless and callous that they gloat and seek
political advantage in the misfortune of other Nigerians.