President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is known to have performed better than most former Nigeria Presidents on several Indices. President Jonathan also performed better than former Nigeria Leaders on several indices, including the following: 1. POWER SECTOR: (a) President Jonathan successfully implemented the provisions of Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) (2005). This entailed unbundling and privatization of power generating companies (GENCOs) and power distribution companies (DISCOs) for more efficient power supply, which his predecessors did not muster political courage to do. (b) He completed and commissioned several National Integrated Power Plant (NIPP) power Plants across the country; (c) Consequently although a lot remains to be achieve in this sector, actual generation more than double from about 2,000 megawatt at the beginning of his Presidency to over 4,500 megawatt by the end of 2013. II. AGRICULTURE Under his Agricultural Transformation Agenda, president Jonathan has achieved wonderful feats. (a) He facilitated several large-scale rice processing mills in the country. (b) Consequently on the above, the country has attained about 60% self-sufficiency in rice production- the ultimate goal being complete self-sufficiency in rice production by the end of 2015, thus saving N315 Billion spent on importation of rice every year, aside large-scale smuggling. (c) He has restructured cotton production in Northern parts of the country for improved productivity. (d) President Jonathan has cleared erstwhile rot and corruption in fertilizer distribution to farmers. (e) His administration has attracted over $8 billion private investment in agriculture in the country. (f) Consequent on all the above, he has created over 2million jobs for rural dwellers in the agricultural sector. Iii. ROADS: (a) Under President Jonathan’s Operation Safe Passage, the Federal Ministry of Works/FERMA have rehabilitated bad sections of highways across the country. (b) The administration has completed 32 highway projects across the country. Iv. AVIATION: President Jonathan’s administration reconstructed and rehabilitated several Airports in the country, to bring them up to international standards. v. RAILWAY: The Nigeria Railway Corporation which has been moribund for almost a decade was resuscitated. Among several others, the Lagos –Kano rail link was made operational. vi. REFORMS OF PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATION: The government reformed the Pension Fund Administration which hitherto provided a huge source of misappropriation by officials. This led to detection and deletion of over 73,000 Ghost Pensioners in the Office of Head of Service and Police. vii. OIL SECTOR REFORM: (a) In order to comprehensively sanitize the oil industry in the country, president Jonathans administration approved the petroleum Industry Bill and presented it to the National Assembly in July 2012 for passage into law. (b) He successfully rehabilitated the Kaduna Refinery which had been in limbo for 15years. He also effectively put an end to fuel subsidy racket by which billions of Naira was fraudulently diverted into private pockets before he took office as president of the federal republic of Nigeria. Unlike before, no one could now be paid by government without evidence of importing and delivery of fuel. ix. ELECTORAL REFUND: Since the beginning of President Jonathan’s tenure, changing of election results by executives’ fiat has become a thing of the past. Writing or results before elections are concluded as was rampant during previous administrations is no more. Consequently, more political parties now have governors in states than hitherto. x. EDUCATION: He approved and funded building of several more federal universities and built schools for neglected and long-suffering Almajiri in Northern Nigeria. xi. PORT REFORM: Nigeria Ports have been made much more efficient and transparent than they were before he took office. xii. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: In May 2011, President Jonathan signed into law, the freedom of Information Act which had been kept in the cooler by previous administrations. This revolutionary piece of legislation is designed to effectively replace the official secrets Act which had been in operation in Nigeria for 100 years. This is clear evidence of President Jonathan’s dedication to transparency in public affairs.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 07:19:13 +0000
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