President Buhari: takes stock

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari in his Independence broadcast today told Nigerians that his four month old government’s effort to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the country’s North East has yielded fruits.

Boko Haram insurgents, he said, are now on the run.

“As you know, I toured the neighbouring countries, marshal led a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G7 leaders and other friendly presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram.

“Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities. Boko Haram are being scattered and are on the run.

“That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets such as Internally Displaced Persons’ camps is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places.”

The short broadcast,sounded more like a stock-taking of the president’s four month old government and an x-ray of the nation’s problems.

He spoke  about the improvement in power supply and refined petroleum products, especially his government’s efforts to end what he called the sordid trade of exporting crude oil and then importing refined products.

The President said improvement had also been noted in the supply of petrol and kerosene to the public and that early signs indicated that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.

Buhari also said preliminary steps had been taken to sanitise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to curb its inefficiency and corruption.

“Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped,” he added.

The President said that he had also ordered the complete audit of government’s other revenue generating agencies, mainly the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Communications Commission to achieve better service delivery to the nation.

In view of the sharp decline in government revenue, Buhari also said his government would embark on prudent management of the lean resources.

“We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new All Progressives Congress government is embarking on a cleanup, introducing prudence and probity in public financing.”