Dear Great People of our nation,
1. I greet and felicitate with you all as
we enter the New Year today. As we mark the
beginning of this New Year, 2015, a new
nation is being born. A new nation is being
born because of the foundations we have all
laid, working together for the good and
progress of our dear fatherland.
2. I join you all in thanking God Almighty
who has brought us this far, for continually
bestowing His Grace upon us and for guiding
our great nation safely through all the
challenges of the past year.
3. This year, as in the year past, I
reaffirm my commitment to work to ensure a
secure future for our dear country and the
generations yet unborn.
4. Last year, we celebrated our
hundredth year of nationhood. The year
brought us further progress, challenges and
fresh opportunities.
5. We have contended with the normal
challenges of nation-building and the unusual
challenges of terrorism.
6. But we have continued to vigorously
confront those who seek to destroy the bonds
of unity that hold us together.
7. On this first day of the New Year, I
want to pay special tribute to the gallant
officers, men and women of our Armed
Forces and other security agencies who have
been in the forefront of the war against
terrorism and violent extremism in our
country and sub-region.
8. I also commend all Nigerians who have
remained vigilant and cooperative with our
security agencies in the fight against the
common enemy.
9. We are re-equipping and re-
positioning our armed forces to enhance their
capacity to win the ongoing war against
terror and insurgency.
10. Regrettably, terrorists have unleashed
much pain and agony on our land. They have
made widows of our mothers and sisters and
orphans of our children. They have shut down
businesses, desecrated places of worship and
brought untold hardship to both men and
women. They have violated the culture and
peaceful way of life in our country, which
took generations to build.
11. They have destroyed countless schools
and displaced people from their communities,
driving them into exile.
12. I want to assure you that the terrorists
will not get away with their atrocities: they
will not win; they will be routed. As President,
I feel the pain of all affected communities
and families. I hear their cries and share
their sorrow and pain.
13. We will not forget; we will not look the
other way. We have done a lot of painstaking
planning and work to resolve the current
security challenge. We will bring justice to the
savage terrorists known as Boko Haram. They
will be defeated.
14. That is the solemn commitment I make
today as President of the Federal Republic,
and Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.
15. By the Special Grace of God, the
Federal Government, under my leadership,
has continued, in the past four years to lead
our country forward, even under the most
trying circumstances.
16. The progress we have made in priority
areas bears us testimony.
17. Amongst other achievements, we have
rehabilitated and expanded our rail
transportation network, successfully
privatized power generation and distribution,
significantly reformed and increased local
participation in our oil and gas industry, and
improved nationwide access to potable water
from 57% in 2010, to 70% at present.
18. We have also made significant progress
in improving access to primary, secondary
and tertiary education by building and
equipping more schools, including special
Almajiri schools, and establishing additional
universities to ensure that each state of the
nation now has at least one Federal
University.
19. Our national economy maintained a
steady growth rate of close to seven per cent
in the past four years and millions of fresh
employment opportunities were created for
our people as a direct consequence.
20. Recently, we launched the Youth
Employment in Agriculture Programme
(YEAP) and the $100 million dollars
Government and Donor Fund for Agriculture
Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) to fast-track the
positive transformation of our agricultural
sector.
21. The Youth Employment in Agriculture
Programme (YEAP) targets 750, 000 market-
oriented young agricultural producers while
the $100 million dollars Fund is to provide
affordable long-term financing to support
the development of small and medium
agribusinesses in the country.
22. This is in addition to a N50 billion Farm
Mechanization Support Fund set up by the
CentralBank to establish 1,200 agricultural
equipment-hiring enterprises.
23. Both funds will become fully operational
this year. Policies and programmes such as
these to boost agricultural production remain
topmost on the agenda of this
administration.
24. Being very conscious of the inherent
perils of our over-reliance on income from
crude oil exports for national development, we
have focused on accelerating the
diversification of our economy.
25. The non-oil Sector which has grown by
an average of 8% in the last few years, is
now a major driver of growth in our economy.
26. The 2015 national budget, which is now
before the National Assembly, is targeted at
deepening our efforts at becoming a non-oil
economy.
27. The budget also includes measures to
ensure that the downturn in the price of oil
does not affect our development plans and
our national economy too adversely. We are
adjusting our financial processes to
safeguard our economy. We are also taking
steps to ensure that the poor and the low
and medium income earners do not bear the
brunt.
28. In 2015, this administration will continue
to lay the foundation for a vibrant economy
that attracts significant Foreign Direct
Investment and promotes policies that ensure
economic stability.
29. We will ensure stability in the value of
the Naira by striving to take away
speculative behaviours that cause market
exchange pressures.
30. We will continue to build and maintain a
healthy external reserves position and
strengthen fiscal buffers. We will ensure the
Naira remains strong, and gives foreign
investors the clarity and certainty that they
need, to guide future investment decisions.
31. We will continue to improve our payment
systems and strengthen risk-based
supervision mechanism for Nigerian banks to
ensure overall health and stability of the
banking system.
32. We are introducing a broad spectrum of
financial instruments to boost sector-
specific enterprise areas in agriculture,
Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises
(MSMEs), manufacturing, and oil and gas to
enhance our aggregate supply capacity,
reduce poverty, promote job creation and
increase the general well-being of our
people.
33. These efforts and other measures being
spearheaded by relevant Ministries,
Departments and Agencies, are geared to
ensure a secure future for Nigeria and
create a much more prosperous country,
where people live more peaceful and fulfilled
lives.
Fellow countrymen and women,
34. As we enter an election year, I assure
you that our administration will remain fully
focused on providing good governance and
the delivery of better public services to our
people.
35. The coming campaigns and elections will
not distract us from our ongoing work to
significantly improve the living conditions of
our people. And I urge all tiers of
government not to be distracted as well.
36. The elections are very important for us
as a country. Their successful conclusion will
further strengthen our democratic
institutions and place our beloved country
even more firmly in the comity of truly
democratic nations.
37. Given the challenges that have
characterized some previous electoral
contests in our country, the eyes of the world
will certainly be on the conduct and outcome
of our fifth post-military rule general
elections.
38. I reassure all Nigerians and the
international community of our firm
commitment to free, fair and credible
elections. My commitment to free elections
and one man, one vote remains unwavering.
39. Our administration has worked hard in
previous elections to prepare all key
stakeholders including the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC),
security agencies and the electorate
optimally, to ensure a progressively improved
electoral process in the country under my
watch. We will continue to do so for the
coming elections.
40. We will continue to provide adequate
funding to INEC and maintain the
Commission’s independence and isolate it
from any form of interference or meddling
in its day-to-day affairs. This shall
continue to guarantee its impartiality and
ability to conduct more credible and
acceptable elections.
41. National security agencies will also be
given all necessary support to enhance their
ability to ensure that the elections are
peaceful and violence-free. The Nigeria
Police has already established an Elections
Security Planning and Monitoring Unit.
42. I am optimistic that with the cooperation
of all law-abiding citizens of the country, our
commitment to have a peaceful and violence-
free election will be actualized.
43. I will like to say this, once again, to my
fellow politicians and political leaders. None
of our political ambitions is worth the blood
of any of our countrymen, women and
children. The improvement of their lives and
living conditions ought to be our primary
motive and the driving force of our quest for
political power and leadership positions.
44. Let us not promote sectionalism,
disunity, intolerance, hate, falsehood or the
malicious abuse of political opponents.
Whatever we feel or seek, we must have a
nation and a people before we can dream of
political ambitions. Let us put the nation and
the people first.
45. Let us all conduct our electoral
campaigns with the highest possible decorum
and civility towards political opponents. Let
us give INEC the fullest possible support and
cooperation it requires to conduct credible
and violence-free elections in 2015.
46. After the 2011 general elections, some
unpatriotic elements embarked on an orgy of
violence, resulting in the destruction of lives
and property. That will not be allowed to
happen this time around. This government will
act decisively against anyone who disrupts
the public peace, before, during or after the
2015 general elections.
47. All Nigerians, of voting age, are free to
vote based on their convictions. It is our duty
to defend and protect that basic right, and
let no one be in doubt, we will.
48. Fellow Nigerians, I urge all of you to
enter the New Year with renewed zeal and
patriotism, to serve our fatherland with love,
honesty, faithfulness and hope for a greater
tomorrow.
49. As I have always maintained, none of
the challenges before us is insurmountable.
We must come together as a people and work
with single-minded unity of purpose to
overcome them.
50. Nigeria is a key country in Africa. We
must work together to maintain our strategic
position and collaborate with others to move
the continent forward. I call for peace in
Africa and an end to all conflicts in our
continent. I urge all Africans to promote
democracy in their respective countries to
ensure faster development of the continent
and faster economic and political
integration.
51. We will continue to pray and offer
hands of fellowship and assistance to our
fellow Africans suffering from the Ebola
Virus Disease. I urge all Nigerians to show
compassion and contribute in whatever way
we can to help our African brothers and
sisters.
52. As we go into this New Year, I salute the
indomitable and resilient spirit of our people
in Nigeria and wherever they are in the
world. Our spirit of enterprise and the
doggedness to succeed amongst all odds has
been our strength.
53. With our collective prayers and efforts,
we will grow our economy and our people will
become wealthier. Government will continue
with programmes deliberately designed to
create more jobs for our youth, to enable
them contribute more to the growth and
development of our nation.
54. Let us continue our march to the future,
towards the attainment of our collective
vision of a strong, united, prosperous and
harmonious nation – a secure nation for us
and for our coming generations.
55. I wish you all a happy and fulfilling
2015.
56. God bless the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
57. Happy New Year, Nigeria!
58. I thank you all.
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