Democracy Day: Osinbajo highlights successes, challenges of Buhari administration

Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday admitted that the journey towards national restoration would take time.He however said the present administration would not succumb to the temptation of taking short-cuts that might end up complicating the journey.

Osinbajo said this in a national broadcast to commemorate the nation’s Democracy Day and second anniversary of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

In his speech Osinbajo highlighted areas of successes to include the anti-corruption war, war on terror, and the social intervention programmes like N-Power and School Feeding.

“Our administration outlined three specific areas for our immediate intervention on assumption of office. These were Security, Corruption and the Economy,” the acting president said.

The Acting President admitted the government was having challenges dealing with the economic problems.

“Admittedly, the economy has proven to be the biggest challenge of all,” he said. “Let me first express just how concerned we have been, since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens.”

Read excerpt from the speech below:

Dear Nigerians, I bring you good wishes from President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, who as we all know is away from the country on medical vacation.

Today marks the second anniversary of our assumption of office. We must thank the Almighty God not only for preserving our lives to celebrate this second anniversary, but for giving us hope, strength and confidence as we faced the challenges of the past two years.

Our administration outlined three specific areas for our immediate intervention on assumption of office. These were Security, Corruption and the Economy.

In the Northeast of our country, the terrorist group Boko Haram openly challenged the sovereignty and continued existence of the state, killing, maiming, and abducting, causing the displacement of the largest number of our citizens in recent history. Beyond the North East they extended their mindless killings, as far away as Abuja, Kano And Kaduna.

But with new leadership and renewed confidence our gallant military immediately began to put Boko Haram on the back foot. We have restored broken-down relations with our neighbours, Chad, Cameroon and Niger – allies without whom the war against terror would have been extremely difficult to win. We have re-organised and equipped our Armed Forces, and inspired them to heroic feats; we have also revitalised the regional Multinational Joint Task Force, by providing the required funding and leadership.