Buhari at 79: Lai Mohammed admits security challenges, lists president’s achievements

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday said President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over Nigeria at the most turbulent times.

Mohammed, who admitted to security challenges, noted that the president has continued to keep the country afloat.

He spoke while congratulating Buhari on his 79th birthday.

“Indeed, President Buhari is a steady hand in troubled times, and that explains why, presiding over the affairs of the country at a most turbulent period, he has managed to keep the nation afloat, and even set it on a trajectory of growth and development.

“Despite a myriad of security challenges, and amidst dwindling national earnings and a crippling global pandemic, he has racked up a number of achievements, most of them unprecedented, he said

The minister also listed some of Buhari’s achievements to include:

“- leapfrogged Nigeria to the modern rail era.

“- set the nation on the path of unprecedented infrastructural development

“- Built the Second Niger Bridge that his predecessors only built on paper

“- Gave Nigeria its first modern airport terminals in decades

“- Provided social safety net for the poor

“- introduced school feeding system that has helped push up school enrollment.

“- Institutionalized measures to fight corruption through the strict implementation of TSA and the introduction of the Whistle blower policy, among others.

“- Put Nigeria on the road to food self-sufficiency

“- Saved states from collapse through generous bailouts that never toed party lines

“- Empowered jobless graduates through the N-Power series
– Saw Nigeria through one of the worst pandemics in human history, with the economy still recording growth

“- Restored our country’s respect and dignity in the comity of nations, as you can see in the recent quick reversals of flight bans by the UK and Canada and the quick decision by the UAE to reverse itself on the number of slots given to a Nigerian airline.

“- Upgraded military hardwares for our armed services and restored the respect of our gallant military “