The newly-inaugurated 16th President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has given his first inaugural address tagged, ‘The Nigerian Ideal’, with an assurance that agricultural production in the country would witness rapid transformation. The President stated this during a nationwide programme, saying storage and other facilities would be also put in place, to reduce spoilage and waste.
“Agricultural hubs will be created throughout the nation to increase production and engage in value-added processing. The livestock sector will be introduced to best modern practices and steps taken to minimise the perennial conflict over land and water resources in this sector. Through these actions, food shall be made more abundant, yet less costly. Farmers shall earn more while the average Nigerian pays less, Stating further, the President added that “in the coming days and weeks, my team will publicly detail key aspects of our programme. Today, permit me to outline in broad terms a few initiatives that define our concept of progressive good governance in furtherance of the Nigerian ideal.
“The principles that will guide our administration are simple. Nigeria will be impartially governed according to the constitution and the rule of law. We shall defend the nation from terror and all forms of criminality that threaten the peace and stability of our country and our sub-region. We shall remodel our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and an end to extreme poverty, in our administration. Women and youth will feature prominently, our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.
“Rural incomes shall be secured by commodity exchange boards guaranteeing minimal prices for certain crops and animal products. We shall continue the efforts of the (Muhammadu) Buhari administration on infrastructure. Progress toward national networks of roads, rail and ports shall get priority attention. We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime, which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions. I stand before you honoured to assume the sacred mandate you have given me …”, President Tinubu stated further.
