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Bola Tinubu’s 63rd Independence Day Anniversary Address [Full Speech]
Dear Compatriots,
1.It is my unique honour to address you on this day, the 63rd anniversary of our nation’s independence, both as the President of our dear country and, simply, as a fellow Nigerian.
2. On this solemn yet hopeful day, let us commend our founding fathers and mothers. Without them, there would be no modern Nigeria. From the fading embers of colonialism, their activism, dedication and leadership gave life to the belief in Nigeria as a sovereign and independent nation.
3. Let us, at this very moment, affirm that as Nigerians, we are all endowed with the sacred rights and individual gifts that God has bestowed on us as a nation and as human beings. No one is greater or lesser than the other.
The triumphs that Nigeria has achieved shall define us. The travails we have endured shall strengthen us. And no other nation or power on this earth shall keep us from our rightful place and destiny. This nation belongs to you, dear people. Love and cherish it as your very own.
4. Nigeria is remarkable in its formation and essential character. We are a broad and dynamic blend of ethnic groups, religions, traditions and cultures. Yet, our bonds are intangible yet strong, invisible yet universal. We are joined by a common thirst for peace and progress, by the common dream of prosperity and harmony and by the unifying ideals of tolerance and justice.
5. Forging a nation based on the fair application of these noble principles to a diverse population has been a task of significant blessing but also a serial challenge. Some people have said an independent Nigeria should never have come into existence. Some have said that our country would be torn apart. They are forever mistaken. Here, our nation stands and here we shall remain.
6. This year, we passed a significant milestone in our journey to a better Nigeria. By democratically electing a 7th consecutive civilian government, Nigeria has proven that commitment to democracy and the rule of law remains our guiding light.
7. At my inauguration, I made important promises about how I would govern this great nation. Among those promises, were pledges to reshape and modernize our economy and to secure the lives, liberty and property of the people.
8. I said that bold reforms were necessary to place our nation on the path of prosperity and growth. On that occasion, I announced the end of the fuel subsidy.
9. I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I have a heart that feels and eyes that see. I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment. Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp. I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.
10. Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past.
11. There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.
12. My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.
13. We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.
14. Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per month.
15. To ensure better grassroots development, we set up an Infrastructure Support Fund for states to invest in critical areas. States have already received funds to provide relief packages against the impact of rising food and other prices.
16. Making the economy more robust by lowering transport costs will be key. In this regard, we have opened a new chapter in public transportation through the deployment of cheaper, safer Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses across the nation. These buses will operate at a fraction of current fuel prices, positively affecting transport fares.
17. New CNG conversions kits will start coming in very soon as all hands are on deck to fast track the usually lengthy procurement process. We are also setting up training facilities and workshops across the nation to train and provide new opportunities for transport operators and entrepreneurs.
This is a groundbreaking moment where, as a nation, we embrace more efficient means to power our economy. In making this change, we also make history.
18. I pledged a thorough housecleaning of the den of malfeasance the CBN had become. That housecleaning is well underway. A new leadership for the Central Bank has been constituted. Also, my special investigator will soon present his findings on past lapses and how to prevent similar reoccurrences. Henceforth, monetary policy shall be for the benefit of all and not the exclusive province of the powerful and wealthy.
19. Wise tax policy is essential to economic fairness and development. I have inaugurated a Committee on Tax Reforms to improve the efficiency of tax administration in the country and address fiscal policies that are unfair or hinder the business environment and slow our growth.
20. To boost employment and urban incomes, we are providing investment funding for enterprises with great potential. Similarly, we are increasing investment in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
21. Commencing this month, the social safety net is being extended through the expansion of cash transfer programs to an additional 15 million vulnerable households.
22. My administration shall always accord the highest priority to the safety of the people. Inter-Service collaboration and intelligence sharing have been enhanced. Our Service Chiefs have been tasked with the vital responsibility of rebuilding the capacities of our security services.
23. Here, I salute and commend our gallant security forces for keeping us safe and securing our territorial integrity. Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice. We remember them today and their families. We shall equip our forces with the ways and means needed to perform their urgent task on behalf of the people,
24. We shall continue to make key appointments in line with the provisions of the Constitution and with fairness toward all. Women, Youth and the physically challenged shall continue to be given due regard in these appointments.
25. May I take this opportunity to congratulate the National Assembly for its role in the quick take-off of this administration through the performance of its constitutional duties of confirmation and oversight.
26. I similarly congratulate the judiciary as a pillar of democracy and fairness.
27. I also thank members of our dynamic civil society organizations and labour unions for their dedication to Nigerian democracy. We may not always agree but I value your advice and recommendations. You are my brothers and sisters and you have my due respect.
28. Fellow compatriots, the journey ahead will not be navigated by fear or hatred. We can only achieve our better Nigeria through courage, compassion and commitment as one indivisible unit.
29. I promise that I shall remain committed and serve faithfully. I also invite all to join this enterprise to remake our beloved nation into its better self. We can do it. We must do it. We shall do it.!!!
30. I wish you all a happy 63rd Independence Anniversary.
31. Thank you for listening.
32. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Alike Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and Chairman of the Dangote Group, has disclosed that Nigeria will cease gasoline imports next month due to the strategic initiatives of the Dangote Refinery.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Dangote expressed optimism about revolutionizing Africa’s energy landscape.
Dangote emphasized the refinery’s capability to meet not only Nigeria’s gasoline demands but also those of West Africa for petrol and diesel, along with the continent’s aviation fuel requirements.
He said, “Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre.”
Additionally, Dangote outlined the progress made by the oil company to ensure that Africa achieves self-sufficiency in the energy sector.
He said, “We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to give to the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico.
“Today, our polypropylene and our polyethene will meet the entire demand of Africa and we are doing base oil, which is like engine oil, we are doing linear benzyl, which is raw material to produce detergent. We have 1.4 billion people in the population, nobody is producing that in Africa.
“So, all the raw materials for our detergents are imported. We are producing that raw material to make Africa self-sufficient. As I said, give us three or a maximum of four years and Africa will not, I repeat, not import any more fertilizer from anywhere.
“We will make Africa self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea, we are at three million tonnes and in the next twenty months, we will be at six million tonnes of urea which is the entire capacity of Egypt. We are getting there.”
Dangote further elaborated on the achievements of the company since the commissioning of the refinery in February.
“For some of us, despite the boom of the capital market of the US, you know, Google, Microsoft and the rest, we didn’t participate, we took all our money and invested in Africa.
“We had this dream, just about five years ago and we said we want to move from five billion (dollars) revenue to thirty billion revenue and we made it happen. It is possible and now we have made it happen and now we have finished our refinery.
“Our refinery is quite big, it is something that we believe that Africa needs. If you look at the whole continent, there are only two countries that don’t import petroleum products which is a tragedy. They are only Algeria and Libya. The rest are all importers.
“So, we need to change and make sure that we don’t just go and produce raw materials, we should also produce finished products and create jobs.
“One of the things we also need to know as Africans is that we produce raw materials and export them when you export raw materials and somebody now keeps importing things into your continent and dumping goods. what you are importing is poverty and exporting jobs. So, we have to change that narrative.
“We just commissioned in February and now we are producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel and by next month, we will be producing gasoline.
“What that would do is that we would be taking most of the African crude that is being produced and also be able to supply not only Nigeria, because our capacity is too big for Nigeria, but it would also supply West Africa, Central Africa and also South Africa.
“We have 650,000 barrels per day, 1 million tonnes of polypropylene, we have 590,000 carbon black, that is the raw materials ink, dyes and co. We are expanding more. This is the first phase and we are going out to the next phase which will start early next year,” he said.
The Ulama Forum in Nigeria, representing Islamic clerics, and the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) have voiced their disapproval of Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye’s decision to challenge a proposed mass wedding for orphaned girls in Niger State through legal means.
Both groups have thrown their support behind Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, who initiated the idea of conducting a mass wedding for girls who lost their parents to bandit attacks in the state.
In a statement issued jointly from Kano and signed by the forum’s Convener, Aminu Inuwa Muhammad, and Secretary, Engineer Bashir Adamu Aliyu, the Ulama Forum affirmed its backing of the planned weddings for victims of banditry and kidnapping in Niger State.
The forum criticized the minister for what they perceive as her attempt to garner media attention with what they described as “her Islamophobic rhetoric,” alleging that her actions demonstrate a lack of respect for Sharia law.
The forum characterized the minister’s actions as selective, amateurish, and tribalistic, asserting that the 1999 Constitution upholds religious freedom and acknowledges Sharia provisions allowing the marriage of the prospective brides.
Furthermore, they highlighted that, as a lawyer, the minister should be aware that the Child Rights Act does not extend beyond the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The forum cautioned the administration of President Bola Tinubu to be cautious of “such public officers and institutions that will set it against the people.”
Likewise, MULAN has declared its intent to confront the minister in a rigorous legal confrontation regarding her efforts to halt the mass wedding of 100 orphans.
In a statement endorsed by its President, Barrister Saeed Muhammad Tudun-Wada, MULAN asserted that the proposed wedding adhered to the principles and regulations of both Islamic and Nigerian laws, while criticizing the minister for her alleged lack of understanding.
“We understand that the proposed mass wedding scheduled for May 24, 2024, has been subjected to a needless controversy arising from the recent intrusion of the minister,” MULAN said.
“Incidentally, we understand that Mrs Ohanenye has instituted legal action to stop the noble course and further petitioned the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokum, against the move of Niger State Speaker Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji to sponsor the marriage of 100 girls.
“In the light of this, the Muslim lawyers have resolved to meet the minister at the court of competent jurisdiction. Already, we have assembled not less than five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and 27 other members of the association to join in challenging the minister.
“MULAN regretted that the minister had decided to venture into a matter she lacked the right and competence to delve into. By so doing, she has overstretched her limit by interfering with the private and personal interests of the Niger girls. We are prepared to join issues with her.
“For the purpose of emphasis, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is generous enough to allow every Nigerian to conduct marriage with whomever he or she so wishes, so long such an act did not violate any provision of the constitution.
“MULAN is fully behind the proposed mass wedding and the genuine interest of the Speaker to ease the burden of the marriage is well in line with Islamic principles.”
The Minister of Women Affairs on Friday, addressed her legal action against Speaker Sarkindaji, citing his proposal to marry off 100 orphans from his constituency.
During an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today, the minister emphasized her adherence to the constitution in her duties, stating: “When I’m doing my work, I focus on the constitution. What I stood for was the fundamental human rights of the children. I want an investigation carried out. Religion is not part of the work I am doing.”
She also mentioned collaborating with the Speaker and other stakeholders to empower the girls instead of arranging marriages for them.
She said “When I met with the speaker recently, he said to me that he never thought about it in the manner I was thinking about it, that he thought he was helping.
“But now that I have brought this up, we have partnered together to look into how we empower these children, take them to school, open businesses for them and make their lives better. He said he will partner with me.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the appointment of 555 individuals to serve as chairpersons and members of the governing councils for tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
This significant move aims to enhance the governance and oversight of the country’s higher education sector.
The inauguration and orientation retreat for the newly appointed council members is scheduled for Thursday, May 30, and Friday, May 31, 2024.
In a related development, the government has successfully resolved the potential strike threat from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
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