No amount of hatred will erase Buhari’s great achievements – Lai

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says no amount of hatred will erase the achievements President Muhammadu Buhari led administration have made so far.

The minister made this statement at the opening of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)’ annual lecture and 25th anniversary of creation of the commission.

He noted that contrary to the negative impression being created by purveyors of hate speech and misleading reports, the Buhari led administration had recorded great achievements under a most difficult situation in a short time.

The minister added that Buhari’s administration had achieved tremendously despite operating with just 45 percent of the funds available from the immediate past administration as a result of the fall in prices of oil.

Read also: Tell Buhari to resign, FFK charges Elder statesmen

He said further that it was as a result of the efficient leadership of Buhari that Nigeria had not witnessed economic and social crises like other oil dependent nations.

According to the minister, “A country that has consistently produced more oil than Nigeria, despite having about one sixth of the Nigerian population, is today embroiled in the worst economic crisis in its history.”

“There is shortage of food, medicine and everything, and there is hyper-inflation. With Nigeria being affected by the same downturn in oil prices, coupled with years of monumental mismanagement of the country’s economy and the mindless and maddening looting of its treasury by rapacious public officials, why is Nigeria not in similar crisis as the country in question?

“My answer is simple: Because Nigeria has a President like Muhammadu Buhari!”

The minister also asserted that the Buhari government had brought transparency to governance, laying a solid foundation for the country’s economic recovery and growth through the treasury single account (TSA) and other economic policies.

Read also: Insurgency: Five die in Boko Haram ambush in Borno

“Does anyone remember the scandalous fuel subsidies that failed to deliver fuel to filling stations? What about the fertiliser subsidies that never guaranteed the availability of fertiliser to farmers? Today, fuel queues are gone with the phantom fuel subsidies,” he said.

“Also, thanks to the resuscitation of 11 of the country’s moribund fertiliser blending plants, fertiliser is now available to farmers nationwide. In fact, 6 million bags of fertilisers have been delivered at 30 per cent below the market price, 50,000 jobs created and N50 billion saved with the stopping of fertiliser subsidy.”

Mohammed said that despite scarcity of funds, the federal government’s social investment programmes were being implemented, creating jobs for youths and providing nutritious food for school children.

He said the micro-credit scheme of the programmes was providing over a million Nigerians with small loans at very low rates through the Bank of Industry.

The minister said despite the “cowardly” bombing of soft targets, Boko Haram insurgency was not in resurgence, adding that the Nigerian troops were up to the task of ensuring that there was no resurgence of Boko Haram.