The year 2013 will be one of immense progress for Nigeria; one where the country will manifest its glory before the international community, the Presidency has said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe made this declaration today in Lagos at an interactive session with journalists to review the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2012.

Dr. Okupe said despite the impression created in some quarters by cynics and pessimists, the year 2012 was not one of gloom and doom but rather one of phenomenal achievements during which the Jonathan administration recorded giant strides in its programmes and policies as well as reducing the scale of the activities of the murderous Boko Haram insurgency.

“The year 2012 has not been a year of gloom and doom as some people may want us to believe. Our economy is getting better. At the end of the second quarter, the economy recorded an impressive growth of 6.28 percent compared to 5.4 percent forecast for sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is the prime destination for investors in Africa and has attracted a sum of about 9 billion dollars in Foreign Direct investment in one year. There are also improvements in other macroeconomic indicators. Our foreign reserves now stand at US$45.68 billion – the highest it has been in over two years,” Okupe stated.

Giving a breakdown of achievements in some key sectors of the economy Okupe noted that despite challenges faced by the administration, in 2012 it was able to deliver on a number of its promises to the Nigeria people while setting the stage for even greater performance in 2013.

On power he said the Jonathan administration has been able to achieve through the roadmap for the power sector articulated in late 2010, improved power supply to large parts of the country with power generation hitting an all-time high of 4,502 megawatts, the highest since Nigeria returned to civilian democracy in 1999.

“The limitations imposed by inadequate transmission infrastructure are being tackled, while funding for the expansion of gas supply to power plants has been made available. We expect that this challenge would be fully overcome by the second quarter of 2013,” Okupe stated, adding:

“Today, large parts of an unprecedented number of cities and towns across the country are enjoying between 14 to 16 hours of uninterrupted power supply, except in some few areas where localised problems of power distribution network have created bottlenecks for smooth transmission.

“With the projected generation of a minimum of 7,000 megawatts by the middle of 2013 as well as the effective privatisation of the distribution and generation subsectors and the commercialisation of the transmission arm of the Nigerian power sector; economic activities are bound to receive significant boost in the coming year.”

On agriculture, the presidential aide noted that the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan has put Nigeria on the path to self sufficiency in food production.

“In the year under review 14 new rice mills with capacity to process 240 metric tons of rice were set up by the private sector while in addition, a sum of 1.2 billion dollars was secured by the Federal Government to install 100 large scale rice processing mills to produce 2.1 million metric tons of rice annually,” Okupe said.

“Today, Nigeria has reached an unprecedented 60 per cent sufficiency in rice production, a feat, which the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recently described as capable of raising world rice output to a record high in the next 12 next months. By the year 2014, Nigeria’s 167 million population will feed on rice grown and processed locally as we would have attained 100 per cent self-sufficiency in rice production like we just did in the production of cement,” he added.

The presidential aide noted that the initiatives of the Federal Government in the agricultural sector in 2012 resulted in the creation of about two million new jobs among rural dwellers. He stated that in 2013, the administration would implement a Young Graduates Commercial Farmers Scheme, which will absorb 780,000 graduates in its first phase and provide an estimated four million jobs in the agricultural sector in the first year.

Okupe said another area where the administration achieved a lot this year was in infrastructure development. Giving an insight into this he said the Federal Government had done a lot to give the aviation sector a new lease of life through massive rehabilitation and reconstruction of Nigerian airports, which was key component of the aviation sector roadmap unveiled by the administration in November 2011.

“The administration at the end of 2011 earmarked 22 airports for rehabilitation and reconstruction and by the end of October this year, over 50 percent had been commissioned for public use with. The remaining eleven would be completed in 2013. In addition to remodeling, government will also in early 2013 begin the construction of five new airport terminals in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Enugu as well as six cargo terminals to be managed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Scheme,” Okupe said.

He added that in the transportation sector giant strides had been recorded particularly in rail transportation system where a lot of activity took place this year, citing the inauguration of the Lagos-Kano train service, which had been moribund for almost a decade.

“This,” Okupe said, “is a major feat considering the long years of decay in the rail transportation sector. Other milestones recorded in this sector include the ongoing rehabilitation of the Eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri as well as the fixing of the Zaria/Kaura Namoda rail route. The Abuja to Kaduna 187 kilometre rail line is about 30 percent completed. By March 2013, the Ajaokuta-Warri Standard Gauge Rail line will be completed. This will provide a less than four-hour journey between the Middle Belt and the South-South. The Lagos-Ibadan new gauge rail line, which was also initiated earlier in the year, is on course.”

He said the government’s preoccupation with developing infrastructure has occasioned massive investments in road rehabilitation and construction. His words: “The radical intervention by the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme SURE-P in the road sector in 2012 resulted in accelerated work on the rehabilitation of the following projects: Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja; Benin-Ore-Sagamu dual carriageway; Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway; Kaduna-Maiduguri dual carriageway; East-West Road and the two kilometre Second Niger Bridge for which a sum of five billion naira has been set aside. These roads cover a distance of 1,664 kilometres and are at various stages of completion. Most of these projects are due for completion and commissioning in 2013.

“As a major turnaround Federal Government also terminated the concessioning agreement with Bi Courtney Company on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The road rehabilitation work is currently been handled by two construction firms and will be completed in early 2013.”

Okupe urged Nigerians to be hopeful for a better year in 2013 as foundation had already been laid for it this year. His assurance: “The year 2013 will be Nigeria’s year of glory; a year of our manifestation. It will be a year of positive changes in all facets of life. President Jonathan will fix Nigeria. There will be a very significant forward progress in the economy of Nigeria through massive job creation in different sectors, which will lead to wealth creation and massive reduction in criminal activities.”

•Photo: Presidential spokesman, Okupe.

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