President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday formally presented a 250-page document detailing the achievements of his administration in the past two years to the Nigerian public.
However, Jonathan cautioned that pundits who may want to assess the administration should endeavour to develop a marking scheme so as not to be subjective in their assessment.
President Jonathan, who said he was not billed to speak but just to make the presentation, however, took exception to the average marks awarded the Ministers of National Planning, Samsudeen Usman, and his Trade and Investment counterpart, Olusegun Aganga, by a national daily.
He argued that both ministries have done very well to merit more than average marks, adding that the activities of the Trade and Investment ministry has helped in increasing investment flow into the country.
Jonathan said: “On Monday, I looked through one of our dailies that assessed the performances of the ministries.
“The first thing I looked for but I didn’t see was the criteria that were used to assess the performance of the ministers.
“I know that for you to mark a student, you must have a marking scheme because assessment could be very subjective.
“If a politician is assessing a fellow politician, you assess the person based on the heart beat.
“I also noticed that some ministries – National Planning was given average, Trade and Investment was given average.
“From 2007, I have worked with two ministers of National Planning and two ministers of Trade and Investment.
“They have never done what has been done today.
“In terms of Foreign Direct Investments that they attracted to this country by the activities of that ministry, it has never happened.
“In spite of security challenges, there is so much interest of businessmen wanting to come to Nigeria.
“Before now, that ministry is almost like a dead end.
“Until Samsudeen came on board, we didn’t even know that we have a planning ministry.
“But these two ministries are scored average.
“I asked: what is the criteria used?”
The President explained what informed bringing prominent Nigerians together for the event.
He said: “Today, we are marking the end of the first 24 months, which is our mid-term review, and my duty is to formally present a document that all Nigerians will be able to read and assess us.
“So, I am not meant to talk and, of course, you have heard from the Planning minister, the finance minister and the Secretary to the Government.
“That will give you the idea of what we have done.
“The idea is to formally present a document to all Nigerians about the activities of government in the past two years.
“I plead with all of us, especially those who want to assess and write about it, to develop criteria because without a marking scheme, you cannot mark any student’s paper.
“Two years of a government, this is what we have done, develop your marking scheme and score us.”
Vice President Namadi Sambo, in his welcome address, saluted the courage of President Jonathan in the vigorous pursuit of the transformation agenda.
Sambo expressed conviction that democracy is an attitude of mind, urging Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of accommodating one another.
The occasion, Sambo said, does not call for just declaration of public holiday, but rather an opportunity to celebrate democratic values and render account of stewardship to the electorates.
Sambo showered encomiums on President Jonathan, saying under him, “our public institutions are being rebuilt, our National Assembly is vibrant, our judiciary is truly independent and our press is feared all over the world.”
In her presentation, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the economy has been growing at 6.5 per cent annually, making it one of the fastest in the world.
The exchange rate, Okonjo-Iweala said, has been relatively stable at between N155 and N160 to a dollar.
According to her, the foreign reserve has increased to N50 billion.
She disclosed that trade has improved tremendously, with oil export standing at 70 per cent and non-oil export constituting 30 per cent.
She said this was an indication that the economy was shifting to non-oil sector.
On debt, the Minister said the annual borrowing has been brought down while there is a deliberate policy to stabilize debt management.
To this effect, she said $75 billion has been paid off this year, “with the objective to keep debt at very manageable level.”
Okonjo-Iweala highlighted measures being taken to block leakages, saying N14 billion has been recovered from fuel subsidy fraud.
She also said salaries are now being paid directly by the Ministry of Finance to stem leakages.
The Minister spoke on the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, saying the Federal Government has so far drawn N180 billion from the programme.
The fund has been channeled into specific areas like transportation, health and road infrastructure.
She explained that the recent drop in power supply was as a result of withdrawal of 800 mega watts from the national grid for maintenance, assuring that supply would improve as soon as the repairs are over.
On the manufacturing sector, she expressed delight that some of the policies put in place by government to encourage local manufacturers were yielding fruits.
She said 28 million metric tons of cement are now being manufactured in the country even when domestic consumption stands at 20 million metric tons thus, making eight million tons available for export.
Highlight of the event was the launching of a 250-page document by President Jonathan, detailing the achievements of the administration sector-by-sector.
To lighten up the event, various artistes were given the opportunity to entertain the guests.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
