News
Coronavirus Response, NYSC Allowance, New Visa Policy… Here’s a Look at President Buhari’s Achievements in One Year
Despite criticism of the administration, and according to the presidency, the Buhari-led government has introduced several changes, from allowance increase for corps members to the safety guidelines for the prevention of coronavirus and, signing new laws such as the visa policy, the financial autonomy of state legislature & state judiciary to mention a few.
President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office May 29th, 2015, after winning the presidential election two months prior. He was then re-elected in 2019.
The presidency has now listed its achievement in the last one year, which cuts across the economy, governance, transportation, oil and gas as well as human empowerment. Also, new laws which Buhari approved, were also added to the list.
According to the presidency, regarding Agriculture, they say these are their achievements:
The Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, has made available more than 200 billion Naira in funding to more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers of 16 different commodities (Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Cassava, Poultry, Soy Beans, Groundnut, Fish), cultivating over 1.4 million hectares of farmland”.
They say they’ve introduced a Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, which was;
Launched in January 2017, as a Government-to-Government agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco, and more than a million metric tonnes of fertilizer produced since 2017. This translated to the distribution of more than 18 million 50kg bags of NPK fertilizer in the first three years of the PFI).
According to the presidency, this is how they’ve supported Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises:
The Administration has launched a series of funding and capacity development initiatives designed to support MSMEs.
The new Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has finally taken off, with initial funding of US$1.3 billion (N396.5 billion); to provide medium and long-term loans to MSMEs.
Since 2017, the DBN has disbursed a total of N100 billion through the bank’s 27 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) impacting more than 100,000 MSMEs.
52% of loans disbursed in 2019 were to youths and women owned businesses
In terms of Budget, they say:
Budget proposal submission, which used to be done manually (submissions in hard copy and flash drives) has moved to an online platform, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), since 2018. The new Budget Submission System significantly improves the transparency and efficiency of the budgeting system.
Regarding Security, this is what the presidency says they’ve done:
Nigeria’s Law Enforcement Agencies have significantly scaled up their footprint across the country – Operation Whirl Stroke in the North Central, Operation Ex-Swift Response in border areas, several new Forward Operating Bases, Quick Response Wings, Commando Training Schools, and so on, and deployments of Special Forces. The Buhari Administration has rolled out the most significant response to Nigeria’s multifaceted security challenges, since 1999.
Thousands of hostages have been freed from Boko Haram captivity, including 106 of the Chibok Girls abducted in April 2014, and 105 of the Dapchi Girls abducted in February 2018.
Photo Credit: BayoOmoboriowo
