In a nationwide broadcast on Monday, President Bola Tinubu addressed Nigerians on the celebration of the New Year, 2024.
The president outlined in his speech the objectives of his administration for 2024 as well as his broadened plans for Nigerians in the new year.
In his New Year’s speech, he reminisced on his journey to becoming president and praised Nigeria’s 24 years of uninterrupted democracy. He assessed his achievements in the last seven months since taking office, highlighting his efforts to prevent what he called a fiscal catastrophe from befalling Nigeria.
Tinubu talked about making difficult choices, such as eliminating fuel subsidies and relieving a small number of people who were choking Nigeria’s foreign exchange system, which benefited only the wealthy. He acknowledged that these two choices caused discomfort to Nigerians, however, he said that hard times don’t last.
In 2024, Tinubu said his administration will focus on accelerating the pace of service delivery across sectors. In this report, Vanguard has compiled highlights of the promises made by the president to Nigerians in his 2024 speech.
1. Reliable supply of electricity
Tinubu on electricity supply: “Just this past December during COP28 in Dubai, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and I agreed and committed to a new deal to speed up the delivery of the Siemens Energy power project that will ultimately deliver a reliable supply of electricity to our homes and businesses under the Presidential Power Initiative which began in 2018.
“Other power installation projects to strengthen the reliability of our transmission lines and optimise the integrity of our National grid are ongoing across the country.
“My administration recognises that no meaningful economic transformation can happen without a steady electricity supply.”
2. Restart local refining of petroleum
Speaking on local refineries, he said, “In 2024, we are moving a step further in our quest to restart local refining of petroleum products with Port Harcourt Refinery, and the Dangote Refinery which shall fully come on stream.”
3. Boost food supply
In this New Year, Tinubu pledged to accelerate efforts to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands nationwide to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet, and other staple crops in order to guarantee a steady supply, security, and affordability of food.
His words, “To ensure constant food supply, security and affordability, we will step up our plan to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands across the country to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet and other staple crops. We launched the dry season farming with 120,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State last November under our National Wheat Development Programme.”
4. Boost local, and foreign investments
With regard to making Nigeria a preferred location for both domestic and foreign investments this New Year, Tinubu pledges to clear any obstacles in the way.
“In this new year, we will race against time to ensure all the fiscal and tax policies reforms we need to put in place are codified and simplified to ensure the business environment does not destroy value. On every foreign trip I have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been the same. Nigeria is ready and open for business.
“I will fight every obstacle that impedes business competitiveness in Nigeria and I will not hesitate to remove any clog hindering our path to making Nigeria a destination of choice for local and foreign investments.” – Tinubu
5. Actualisation of 8 priority areas in the 2024 budget: Security, job creation, poverty reduction, others
“In my 2024 Budget presentation to the National Assembly, I listed my administration’s 8 priority areas to include national defence and internal security, job creation, macro-economic stability, investment environment optimization, human capital development, poverty reduction and social security.
“Because we take our development agenda very seriously, our 2024 budget reflects the premium we placed on achieving our governance objectives.” Tinubu noted.
