Our dear president published his Facebook post at exactly 00:00am Jan
1st.... I have to sleep now cos i need to be up by 7am to watch his
early morning live broadcast!
You'll should remember January 1st 2012 and brace yourselves for some surprises!... His post below!
My dear friends on Facebook,
As
we enter a new year, I want to assure Nigerians that the future of our
nation is better than its past. We have had some challenges and
together, we have either overcome them or are in the process of
overcoming them. In our overcoming, we have bonded together and our
understanding of our unique Nigerianness has grown.
As 2013 dawns
on us, we must use this year to further define the type of future we
want as a nation. We should be conscious that this year is the last year
before the centenary of Nigeria's amalgamation of 1914 so we must do
everything to ensure that the coming new century must be a Nigerian
century and for that to happen we must sow good seeds today.
With your help this administration has been doing whatever it takes to make Nigeria fulfill the dreams of our founding fathers.
In
the last year, Nigeria has made positive strides in the area of GDP
growth where we have maintained a consistent GDP growth rate of over 6%
per annum for the last 3 years prompting the Clinton Foundation this
year to celebrate Nigeria as one of the 10 fastest growing economies of
the world.
In the past, we were used to reading negative stories
about Nigeria from the International Community. But because of the
progress we have made as a nation, the leading lights of the
International Community now point to Nigeria as a beacon of economic
hope to the rest of the world.
In his 2012 speech to the
Conservative Party, on the 10th of October, 2012, the British Prime
Minister, David Cameron had this to say about Nigeria "Yes, we've been
hearing about China and India for years …but it's hard to believe what's
happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria too. Meanwhile, the old
powers are on the slide. What do the countries on the rise have in
common? They are lean, fit, obsessed with enterprise, spending money on
the future – on education, incredible infrastructure and technology."
The
world has not failed to notice that Nigerian's Life Expectancy has
increased by 10%, that millions of children who were out of the school
system are now having opportunities to go to school with the take of f
of the Almajiri education scheme, that thousands of young Nigerians with
ideas but no finance have been empowered to start up a business and
employ others under the Youths Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria
(YouWIN) initiative. In 2012, the Per Capita Income of the average
Nigerian increased year on year when compared to 2011.
We are
spending more on infrastructure so that in the New Year Nigerians can
spend more time at work. We are generating power at our highest rate
ever; Our Sovereign Wealth Fund is set to take off so that future
generations of Nigerians can have savings even before they are born. We
are near self sufficiency in cement production and are set to reach the
same height in rice production and other staples owing to the unique
voucher system of fertilizer distribution that cuts out the middle man.
Once
considered a dead and buried sector, our railways have been revived and
it is now possible to travel from Lagos to Kano at less than the cost
that it used to take to travel between Lagos to Ibadan by road.
Dear
friends, these and other initiatives have been undertaken to ensure
that when I say to you that I wish you a happy New Year, I say so with
the knowledge that this is not mere wishful thinking, because this
administration has laid the foundation upon which the average Nigerian
can step up and actualize that greeting into reality.
Once again,
I, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, do wish my friends on Facebook a Happy
New Year and may God grant you your heart's desire on this and every
other day. GEJ
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