Buhari will leave Nigeria better than he met it – BMO

Nigerians have been urged to take President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to hand over a diversified, home grown economy, and a revamped Armed Forces to the next administration as an article of faith.

According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, there are already signs that the Buhari administration would leave the country better than it met it.

“After almost seven years in office, Buhari has every reason to tell the Committee of Business, Political, Media and Civil Society leaders that he will hand over ‘a strong repositioned agriculture-led, diversified home-grown economy, stable democracy and revamped armed and security forces’ to the next administration.

“We see it as a statement of fact based on the realities on ground in the sectors the President mentioned recently in his speech to the gathering of public and private sector players in Abuja.

“We are convinced that there will be more activities rather than a decline because most of the ongoing critical infrastructural projects being undertaken by the administration across all sectors would be completed and commissioned before the end of his tenure in 2023,” the statement added.

The group also reaffirmed some of the legacies that President Buhari will be handing over to the next administration.

“On the watch of the President, Nigeria has made immense progress with its railway network including the completion and operation of the Lagos-Ibadan line. Also the virtually abandoned Itakpe-Warri line was completed more than 30 years after it was initiated.

“And taking a cue from the President’s 2022 budget speech, arrangements are underway to complete the Ibadan-Kano line and work will soon commence on the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line, as well as Calabar-Lagos Coastal line, which will connect the Southern and Eastern States to one another, and to the North.

“The Second Niger Bridge is nearly completed and is almost certain to be commissioned before President Buhari leaves office; all the nation’s four refineries are undergoing comprehensive rehabilitation and of course the armed forces are getting the type of platforms and military hardware they have not seen in over 30 years.

“Nigerians should also note that all these are being done at a time the country’s earnings have dwindled as a result of a global meltdown and comparatively lower oil prices,” it said.

The group: “However, this has not stopped the Buhari administration from institutionalising a social protection scheme that is the largest in sub-saharan Africa: the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which over 12 million households have benefitted from in the past five years.

“And only recently we saw how the umbrella body of rice farmers in the country and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showcased Nigeria’s capacity in local rice production with the display of 13 rice pyramids in Abuja. It was a show of strength by a nation that now produces nine million metric tonnes of rice today compared to two million metric tonnes in 2015 to make it Africa’s largest rice producers.”

BMO urged Nigerians to continue to show support for the President as he gradually consolidates on his achievements in the last lap of his eight year tenure in office.