<<Print>>

AS President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration clocks five years on May 29, the Presidency has said that the victory of the President in 2015 saved the country from total collapse.

The Presidency also enthused that the Buhari’s government has made a salutary impact in almost all the facets of Nigerian life.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina in Abuja on Thursday.

Adesina stated that the administration came on board with three cardinal points which are security, reviving the economy (with particular emphasis on job creation, especially for youths), and fighting corruption, adding that what had been achieved on the three areas, cannot be compared with where the country was before Buhari’s emergence.

He, however, said that were the lofty goals were yet to be attained, it was work in progress and that eyes were firmly fixed on the ball. The statement which came with a 60-page document of achievement said, “May 29, 2020, marks the end of the first year of the second four-year term of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, and the fifth year of the government in office.

“Between May 29, 2015, when it was inaugurated for the first term, and now, the Buhari administration has made a salutary impact in almost all the facets of Nigerian life.

“The government swept into office on the wings of change, and that change has been wrought in nearly all phases of national life. Where the lofty goals are yet to be attained, it is work in progress, and eyes are firmly fixed on the ball. No distraction.

“The three umbrella areas on which government based its interventionist agenda are: security, reviving the economy (with particular emphasis on job creation, especially for youths), and fighting corruption. In these three areas, where we are today cannot be compared with where we used to be.

“By May 2015, insecurity had badly fractured the fabric of the nation. No one could wager that the country would survive the next month, not to talk of another year.

“Bombs went off like firecrackers, insurgents ran riot around the country, other forms of crime and criminality held sway. Life was nasty, brutish and short.

“Over five years, the battle has been taken to insurgents and criminals. And they are being extinguished by the day, and very close to complete extirpation. ”

The economy, long dependent on a mono-product – petroleum, is being retooled, refocused, with diversification as a task that must be accomplished.

Agriculture has been given a fillip, manufacturing has got a shot in the arm, and solid minerals are contributing a large chunk to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The country is very close to food security, with rice, beans, maize, millet, and all sorts of grain no longer imported. but Buhari’s victory in 2015, ensure We now eat what we grow.”

On the war against corruption, no quarter is asked, and none is given. Commit the crime, do the term. No retreat, no surrender.” Facts speak for themselves.

And that is what we present at this auspicious season of the fifth anniversary of the Buhari administration. Facts are stubborn things, no matter how anybody tries to deny, distort or deride them.”