By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Federal Government says Nigeria has made tremendous progress and better than 2015 when the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this on Monday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) live programme, “Good Morning Nigeria”
Speaking on the programme monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the minister said the Buhari’ government had met the expectations of Nigerians and true to its mandate giving the time frame and circumstances.
The minister said the attempts to de-market the government and in the process the country were the handwork of die-hard naysayers and very vocal minority.
Speaking on the administration’s achievements, the minister said in 2015, the entire North East region was inaccessible and 20 of the 27 Local Government Areas in Borno were under the occupation and control of Boko Haram insurgents.
He said presently no portion or part of Nigeria territory was under the occupation and control of insurgents.
Mohammed recalled that in 2015, Nigeria was number one importer of rice from Thailand but with the administration’s policies and programmes on agriculture, the country is self-sufficient in the staple and food in general.
He said millions of farmers had been empowered with the Anchor Borrowers Programme while the number of rice mills in the country had been increased from two in 2015 to 60 presently
Under the administration’s social intervention programmes, the minister said 10 million pupils were being fed daily while two million households were benefitting from Conditional Cash Transfer among others.
Mohammed said the administration had constructed 17,000 kms of new roads and rehabilitated 8,000 kms across the country
“We completed the Lagos-Ibadan expressway as well as the second Niger bridge, which was a mirage for more than three decades.
“Also for more than three decades, Nigerians did not know what it means to travel by train until the Buhari’ government came to power.
In spite all the sabotage, today we have working, the Lagos-Ibadan railway, Abuja-Kaduna railway and Ajaokuta- Warri railway which were not in existence before we came,’’ he said.
The minister said the Buhari’ government would continue to build a progressive and prosperous nation and would not be cowed or intimidated by the naysayers. (NAN)
