President Bola Tinubu has addressed Nigerians on his mandate to make the nation a prosperous and economically viable one in the New Year.
He gave the speech by 7 a.m. on Monday, January 1, assuring Nigerians that 2024 will be better for the nation.
Here are six key takeaways from his speech:
1. Electricity:
President Tinubu highlighted that a developing economy cannot survive without stable electricity.
He 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 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.”
2. Local refinery:
He also promised the resumption of production at the local refineries.
He said: “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.”
3. Food supply:
The president spoke on food supply in the country, he revealed the plans the solve the food scarcity crisis in Nigeria.
He said: “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 dry season farming with 120,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State last November under our National Wheat Development Programme.”
4. Cabinet members:
The President on Monday, January 1, reiterated his resolve to transform the country regardless of the challenges being faced in achieving his set goals.
He also emphasized that he would not tolerate poor performance from any of his appointees, saying that there wouldn’t be any room for failure.
5. Local and foreign investments:
Tinubu also addressed the issues foreign investors face in Nigeria. He promised that his administration would remove these barriers.
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.”
6. Realizing the 2024 budget
The president also broke down the priority areas for the 2024 budget
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.”
.