Boko Haram Insurgency Overshadowing My Achievements – Jonathan

Boko Haram insurgents

President Goodluck Jonathan says his administration has achieved a lot but his achievements are being overshadowed by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.

He said this at the palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwan Suleiman Adamu, on Thursday, shortly before addressing a political rally in the state capital.

Jonathan, however, assured that his administration would soon put an end to insurgency in Nigeria.

“When we moved round in 2011, we got massive support from you and since then, we have been working hard to justify your support. Insha Allahu, we will also succeed this time.

“The unfortunate Boko Haram excesses are taking attention away from our numerous achievements. Everybody wants security, everybody wants to be safe and to be able to move freely.

“I am, therefore, assuring you that we will bring the situation to a reasonable degree and will eventually end it very soon.

“We have worked very hard to improve agriculture and ended decades of fertiliser scam. We want Nigerian farmers to crop three times a year.

“We are thinking of different options to fully diversify our economy due to the fall in the global price of oil and Bauchi is one of the states we will tap into its solid mineral potentials,” Jonathan said.

In his response, the emir commended Jonathan for his respect and love for traditional institution. He also praised him for steps taken to tackle insurgency in the North-East. He expressed hope that the school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State, would soon be rescued.

He also commended the president over his commitment to free and fair elections, as well as the Abuja peace accord he recently endorsed with other presidential candidates. He noted that the accord would encourage Nigerians to embrace peace before, during and after next month’s general election.

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  1. MAJOR ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION

    The Economy

    Improvement in Economic Indices – In October 2011 International Ratings agency, Fitch Ratings revised the country’s Outlook upwards from Negative to Stable.

    Standard and Poor’s another internationally respected and independent ratings agency, revised Nigeria’s ratings from stable to Positive.

    Signing into law the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Bill 2010 (Local Content Bill) which has increased Local Content in the Oil and Gas sector.

    Ø As a direct result of that law Royal Dutch Shell awarded a N7.8 billion ($49.9 million) contract to a Nigerian firm, S.C.C Limited, for the manufacture of high pressure line pipes that would otherwise have been awarded to a foreign firm.

    Ø As a result of this law, Exxon Mobil awarded an off shore platform contract to a local firm, NigerDockNig. PLC that would otherwise have been awarded to a foreign firm.

    Initiating the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). A seed capital of $1 billion was provided to kick start the fund as well as establish three sub funds- the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund; the Future Generations Fund and the Stabilization Fund which will be the pillars of the SWF.

    Launched the Youth Enterprise with innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) initiative on the 11th October 2011 which is the administration’s job creation centre piece.

    Ø On Thursday April 12, 2012, 1,200 Nigerian youths emerged winners of the competition following a transparent process. Each winner receives a business start up grant of between 1 to 10 million Naira.

    Foreign exchange reserves rose to $37.02bn by May 14, 2012, the highest level in 21 months.

    On March 29th, 2011, The UK Government in London described Nigeria as the fourth fastest growing economy in the world.

    On February 13 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Public Works Women and Youth Empowerment Programme, an intervention programme designed to employ 370,000 youths in the year 2012 with 30% of those jobs being reserved for women.

    The Federal Government under President Jonathan has secured investment commitments worth 4.89 Trillion Naira.

    Launched the NigComSat-1Rsatellite which will help expand Internet Bandwidth, monitor the weather and provide early warning to prevent natural disasters like floods, crop monitoring and urban planning. It has the attendant benefit of reducing the over $1 billion spent in purchasing Internet Bandwidth from abroad.

    Nigeria’s banking industry rescued and stabilized by the establishment of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) in the year 2010.

    MasterCard made Nigeria its regional headquarters for its West/East and Indian Ocean islands zone raising the profile of Nigeria’s e-commerce industry.

    Nigeria’s GDP grew by a record 8.29% during the last quarter of 2010 and by over 7% in 2011. In the first quarter of 2012 Nigeria had verifiably become the fourth fastest growing economy in the world as recently attested to by several multilateral bodies and trading partners.

    Revival of the Textile industry via the 150 billion Naira Textile Industry Bailout. As a result the United Nigerian Textile Limited was reactivated amongst others and 2000 employees re-engaged.

    Non oil exports from 2010 (standing at $2.3 Billion) and subsequent years are ten times what they were in 2000 (which were $200 Million) as a direct result of this administration’s intervention in the Textile Industry and Real Sector