Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Presidency has called on Nigerians to count their blessings under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari notwithstanding the other areas where it is still working hard to ensure that every citizen can feel the change for which they massively voted in 2015.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement assured that the Buhari’s administration was relentless and determined to continue in its task improving the lot of Nigerians.
Listing the achievements the administration has recorded, Shehu said: “Last year, the World Bank ranked Nigeria among the top 10 reforming economies in the world. This was clearly in recognition of the thorough and rigorous growth and development-oriented economic policies of the Buhari Administration.
“Today, investors and business men and women from around the world can arrive in Nigeria and get their visas right at the airport without any hassle. This is just one of the many reasons why Nigeria has advanced 24 steps in the global ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings of the World Bank.
“The government is spending more on infrastructure than previous administrations, despite earning barely half of what the country earned from oil between 2011 and 2014 when the product was selling for an average of $110 per barrel. The latest GDP figures show continued growth after the Buhari administration successfully brought the country out of recession, with virtually all sectors of the economy now on the rebound, and significant progress recorded in agriculture.
“This administration has also ushered in significant progress in agriculture, where output has risen in local production, and Nigeria is now importing 80-90 percent less rice than in previous years.
“Fertilizer plants have been resuscitated, prices have dropped. More and more young people are going into agriculture, being able, for the first time, to see farming as a viable endeavour. Has anyone heard of the Graduates-in-Agriculture Scheme in several states of the federation, a self-driven, government-assisted programme by which our young men and women are stopping their endless wait for white-collar jobs and creating wealth for themselves and the nation?
“Power generation and distribution have more than doubled from 2015 when President Buhari took power to the present.”