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APC Next Level: Important records of Nigeria’s milestones

Nigeria is often referred to as the ‘Giant of Africa’ because we are a diverse country with lots of different ethnicities, languages and unique species. Being the seventh most populous country in the world, Nigeria is home to more than 200 million people. Aside from our nation’s abundant source of oil and gas, we are a conscious nation that holds our government leaders accountable for their actions. Although there is still a long way to go, big steps have been made towards boosting our economy. See the different changes done by the current administration for our nation.   

Changes in the different sectors of society

Continuous efforts and innovative plans are a must in order to progress as a nation. While there are still many areas needing improvement, we are slowly paving the way towards a better society as a whole. Listed below are the significant milestones to our prosperity in the following sectors:    

Health

President Buhari created plans to improve the Nigerian Health System by implementing routine immunizations and installing ultra-modern infrastructure in more than 100 facilities nationwide. Consequently, boosting the life expectancy of Nigerian citizens to an all-time high record.

Education

With the endorsement of a ₦1.9 billion intervention fund, President Buhari compelled a revival of scholarly exploration through a complete modification and revamp of the UTME. This plan gained the approval of over 6 new private universities, 25 flexible learning polytechnics, 15 online universities and 2 state universities.

Trade and Investment

Nigeria moved up 24 places in the World Bank “Ease of Doing Business” index due to President Buhari’s inauguration of the National Council for SMEs (small and medium enterprises). Also, this happened because of the fine-tuning of the new joint venture funding mechanism for oil operations, and the securing of economic exemptions to recover lost capacity in the wake of crude oil production cuts.

Defence

President Buhari’s counter-terrorism initiatives resulted in a big decrease in terrorist activities. His actions directly led to the release of the “82 Chibok School Girls” abducted by Boko Haram and the liberation of all the local government councils in the northeast under terrorist control.

Renewable Energy

President Buhari’s administration inherited an energy generation capacity of about 4,000MW which has now gone well beyond 7,500MW, with a transmission capacity of 8,000MW.

Employment

President Buhari and his Vice Prof. Yemi Osinbajo stemmed the tide of employment with the provision of the TraderMoni and MarketMoni through the “N-Power” scheme.

Infrastructure

In the last three years, President Buhari invested around $10 billion for our country’s infrastructure. Since 2016, there has been a major focus on roads, power, and a new national rail network. All of these helped increase access to markets and reduced operating costs for businesses.

Foreign Reserves

In the last four years, the Buhari-led government successfully increased Nigeria’s foreign reserves from $30 billion in 2015 to almost $50 billion today.

Transportation

President Buhari improved the logistical mobility of Nigerian citizens and intra-state trade with the commencement of the Itakpe-Warri & Lagos-Ibadan rail lines. Also, he fast-tracked the renovations of the Lagos, Enugu & Port Harcourt airport terminals to near completion in a short amount of time.

Rural Development and Agriculture

President Buhari spearheaded rural development through agriculture via the inauguration of the project coordination unit of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Moreover, he facilitated and secured the approval of a $200 million loan from the World Bank to support and finance small to mid-scale farming.

Information and Culture

President Buhari implemented the rollout of the digital switch-over in television broadcasting, pioneering a new age of information dissemination across the country.

Sports and Social Development

President Buhari’s commitment to the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigerian citizens resulted in positive returns across the sports domain. Nigeria booked a ticket to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, won first and second place at the 2017 Afrobasket, in both the female and male divisions respectively. We also qualified for an Olympic bobsled team for the first time, despite the climate and topographical challenges.

Mine and Steel Development

Apart from a 300% increase in revenue (royalties and fees) between 2015 and 2016, President Buhari ensured that the mine and steel development sector surpassed its entire revenue of over ₦2 billion generated for the whole of 2016, with over ₦3.5 billion earning.

Poverty Eradication

For the first time, President Buhari allocated a budget for poverty reduction every year. Since 2016, this has been used to address the challenges of the poor and vulnerable in society and hopefully, gradually eradicate poverty in the country.

Revenue Generation

President Buhari grew Nigeria’s taxpayer base by five million new taxpayers. As part of the efforts of Nigeria’s revenue base, it changed from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million today.

Corruption

The Whistleblower Policy was introduced in December 2016 to help curb mismanagement of public funds and financial malpractice. From the 534 investigations concluded (out of over 1000 tips received) by April 2018, ₦7.8 billion, USD378 million and GBP27,800 were recovered.

Do your part: Steps to progress

One of the most important things we should keep in mind is that a country could only prosper if both the government and its people work together. A lack of participation with either of these two can delay the growth of Nigeria and worse could lead to an overall decline of our nation. Fortunately, our government is making changes to the system in order to improve the state of our country. For this reason, we should also become better citizens to aid in the process. We’ve gathered a few tips you can follow:

Be patriotic

A patriot is someone who shows his/her love for the country through supporting the plans for our nations and being loyal yet still critical of our government. Aside from this, it means seeing the importance of practising our cultural values. Here are some small steps you can start doing today:

  • Learn more about the country’s history
  • Follow the law
  • Pay your taxes
  • Practice the national anthem
  • Don’t litter or commit acts of vandalism that can ruin our environment
  • Tour around the country
  • Engage in conversations with your neighbours
  • Support our local sports teams

Practice good qualities of a model citizen

Apart from being a devoted citizen through patriotic actions, it is also important to practice good qualities in your everyday life. An ideal citizen has the following qualities:

  • Tells the truth without holding back
  • Have strong moral principles
  • Knows how to be accountable for yourself and your actions
  • Respects everyone equally
  • Helps those in need through volunteering or small acts of kindness
  • Does not discriminate against others who are of different ethnicity
  • Being considerate of each person’s differences
  • Having  self-discipline
  • Has the courage to stand up for what is right
  • Defends those who are underprivileged
  • Being fair and teaches others to become better

Become productive

To be a good citizen, we should contribute to the growth of our economy in our own ways. Share your talents, skills and abilities with other people. You don’t need to do big things in order to have a positive contribution to our country. There are lots of ways to become a productive citizen such as:

  • Being a good employee
  • Venturing to your own business
  • Creating innovative ideas through art
  • Serving the greater good by being a public servant
  • Helping others through outreach activities

Actively participate

Learning more about your local community is a good way to feel closer to understanding our country’s beauty. By participating in the social scene in your town or city can help flourish the economic activity in that place. Some activities you can do are:

  • Shopping local goods
  • Attend community events such as festivals or public gatherings
  • Join a local sports club that piques your interest like running or cycling
  • Plant a community garden
  • Participate in community cleanup projects

Learn more about the country

Reading up on the various history books or news sources can help you better understand the issues faced by our country. It is important to be well informed about our nation so that you can learn how to help in return. Education is an important aspect of our lives and we have to go beyond school textbooks and instead learn about the reality of our country. This includes being aware of your individual rights and the amount of freedom we are entitled to. Moreover, you can be politically active through the following activities:

  • Knowing the current problems in our country
  • Attending rallies and events
  • Going to city council meetings
  • Voting for competent and good leaders
  • Learning about our government’s plans for the nation

Grow with APC Next Level

To make Nigeria one of the top countries in the world, we should strive to become better citizens of our country. Aside from following our country’s laws, remaining alert and aware of our surroundings is a good practice for every individual. See the most relevant news and freshest updates about our country’s economy, government and more by visiting APC Next Level’s website and Twitter account. Be the first to know what’s happening in Nigeria with APC Next Level.