5 Important Charges Buhari Gave To Ministers-Designate

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, addressed incoming ministers, presidential aides and other top government officials at an induction retreat which held at the State House, Abuja.  

The president had appointed 43 ministers-designate last month, while the Nigerian Senate cleared all of them after a three day screening process.

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In his opening speech at the commencement of the retreat, Buhari welcomed the incoming ministers, urging them to assist and advise him in running the affairs of the country.

Below are five key things the president said in his speech:

‘BE PREPARED TO LIVE LABORIOUS DAYS’

The President urged the ministers-designate to grasp the new task with two hands, adding that, “There will be long hours and you must be prepared to live laborious days if we are to serve our people optimally.”

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‘THE SOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEMS LIES WITHIN US’

On the looming demographic potential of the country with Nigeria’s current population currently pegged at 200 million, Buhari who described the figure as “a frightening prospect,”, urged the incoming ministers to avoid sitting idle.

“By 2050, UN estimates put Nigeria third globally behind only India and China with our projected population at 411 million.

“This is a frightening prospect but only if we sit idly by and expect handouts from so-called development partners. The solution to our problems lies within us.”

‘WE HAVE MADE HEADWAY IN THREE AREAS’

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Buhari said that the All Progressives Congress, APC, led administration has made progress in three major area during the last four years.

He said, “Honourable Ministers-Designate, in our first term we identified three salient areas for close attention and action, namely to secure the country, to improve the economy and to fight corruption.

“None but the most partisan will dispute that we have made headway in all three areas:

“First – we have rolled back the frontiers of terrorism; we are actively addressing other challenges such as kidnappings, farmer-herder violence, improving the safety of our roads, railways, air traffic and fire control capacities.

“Second – we are steadily turning the economy round through investment in agriculture and manufacturing, shoring up our foreign reserves, curbing inflation and improving the country’s infrastructure.

“Third – on corruption, we have recovered hundreds of billions of stolen assets and are actively pursuing control measures to tackle leakages in public resources. We will not let up in fighting corruption.”

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‘WE WILL LIFT 100m NIGERIANS OUT OF POVERTY IN 10 YEARS’

The president urged the incoming ministers, alongside his advisers, to contribute in building upon the road map of policies, programmes and projects that will lift the bulk of people out of poverty and set them on the road to prosperity.

“Our Administration’s eight years will have laid the grounds for lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. This outcome will fundamentally shift Nigeria’s trajectory and place us among the World’s Great Nations,” he said.

WE MUST WORK AS A TEAM

He further urged the incoming ministers alongside other officials to work as a team.

He said, “Working as a team demands that we know what the next person is doing. You must open communications with your colleagues. Lack of communication leads to lack of cooperation and sub-optimal performance.”

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