Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Let me first thank Ambassador Johnnie Carson and his team from the Institute of Peace for inviting me back to interface with the Washington Community of global thought leaders and democracy advocacy Groups, on developments across the world, especially, in developing nations that are grappling with the challenges of embedding democratic processes and systems. Specifically, I recognize the representatives of the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral System and the National Endowment for Democracy, all of you, are our able co-hosts for today’s conversation.
2. I recall with nostalgia our last meeting at this Institute in 2015, shortly after I assumed Office, following my victory in the historic general elections that witnessed a seamless transition of government from an incumbent ruling party of 16 years, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to a young up-start opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC). You will recall that the elections in 2015 in Nigeria were adjudged to be free and fair, by both the domestic and international election observers. That visit in 2015, offered me the opportunity to underscore the significance of the attestation by the International Elections Observer Groups, the credibility of those elections, its demonstration effect and the impact such has for Peace, not only in Nigeria but the sub-region, and continent-wide hence a major contribution to international peace and stability. Remember that Nigeria is a nation of over 200 million people. Therefore, instability in Nigeria has grave consequences not only for Africa, but the whole world. That first interaction with you in 2015, also afforded me the opportunity, to unveil the vision and focus of my Administration in three (3) critical areas, namely, Security, Economy and Fighting Corruption. I am therefore, exceptionally pleased today, that this stage which served as my opening act has once more presented itself as the curtains are almost being drawn, for the opportunity to share experiences and discuss the last seven and half years.
3. When I met you in 2015, I was not un-aware of the enormous domestic and international goodwill that I attracted. Although I am a converted democrat, and not your run of the mill politician and therefore, less inclined to engage in double-talks. My Advisers may not always be happy with me in this regard. I am however, measured in speaking but always certain that the truth I shall speak and this has huge consequences in a political space wherein this is exception rather than the norm. Politics generally is largely an argumentative and rancorous business. This twin-characteristic does not necessarily diminish the value of democracy, whose impact on governance, is a product of rancorous debates to ensure the buy-in of the majority of the people or representatives. More importantly, such an outcome represents the will of the people and not only of the leadership. Failure to register an impact can often times be more system-oriented and not leadership focus. Democracy thrives on the principle of collective ability to agree and not of imposition by the leader, no matter how powerful such a leader may be.
4. Our political journey over the last 7 plus years has pretty much been guided by this attribute of democracy. This process does not endear itself to speedy decisions nor formulation of easily implementable policies. The characteristic trade-offs in a democracy, necessarily makes governance an extremely slow process. I am sure that you are familiar with references to me as “Baba-go-slow”. Majority of my compatriots would rather prefer that everyday new policy-decisions or actions are reeled out by Government in a manner of a Military Administration. But we are in a democracy and a converted democrat like me must listen and or be guided by majority opinions and most importantly must learn to understand the knock on effect of actions before they are undertaken, all these contribute to the grind that characterizes a slow process. And of course, there is the rule of law component that we must at all times, bear in mind. Without adhering to its basic tenets, you cannot be characterized as democratic in your actions or conducts.
   Your Excellencies,
   Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
5. You may all recall that when I was elected in 2015, on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), our clear promises and commitments were to end the rising insecurity and violent conflict by Boko Haram in the North Eastern part of Nigeria, fight corruption and build a strong and resilient national economy.
6. Regrettably, when we assumed Office on May 29th 2015, my Administration inherited a treasury with various leakages, dwindling oil revenues triggered by the decline in oil prices in the international market which is a major source of foreign exchange. This inevitably forced Nigeria into an economic recession. Our concerted and co-ordinated actions enabled Nigeria to quickly exit the recession.
7. These actions via our deliberate policy in the Economy Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) facilitated our exit from the recession. This policy focused on effective economic planning and managing expenditure to check-mate socio-economic vulnerabilities of the citizens. We remain convinced that this would inevitably weaken and break the vicious cycle of insecurity. Similarly, my Administration had to re-focus its attention to the pursuit of citizens-driven reforms and appropriate interventions programmes in responding to challenges of violent conflict, insecurity and criminality in order to cushion the impact of economic hardships on the vulnerable groups in the society.
8. Such efforts included boosting investors-confidence and diversification in the non-oil sector. We recognized the need to jump-start domestic production and through various intervention programs we focused on channeling capital to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises which obviously are the bedrock of successful economies across the globe. As you all are aware, our nation has a youth bulge. Amongst our many blessings, is that of an extremely industrious, creative and hardworking youthful population. These youths symbolize the energy and promise that is innate in the Nigerian. In recognition of this and to give sufficient oxygen to their growth in start-ups and Technology space which have gained immense foothold in Nigeria and we see its steady contribution to our GDP. We signed into Law the Nigeria Start-Up Act – a landmark Legislation that lays the ground work in supporting our start-up enterprises.
9. I earlier made reference to our policy to jump-start domestic production and through our Agric Sector – focused interventions driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria we transitioned from being a net importer of our staple food rice to becoming self-sufficient in its production. This same scheme has financed the establishment and operations of our fifty (50) integrated rice mills. It has also financed over 4.5mm smallholder farmers, ensured the cultivation of almost 6mm hectares of farm land and almost 700 large scale agric projects have been funded. This Agricultural revolution has led to the creation of over 13mm direct and indirect jobs. The take-away from our focus on the Agricultural Sector is as follows: we were in a better position to handle the systemic shock caused by both COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on global food supply chains and related prices spikes and while also improving our capacity in the agro allied sector such that we now need to be more efficient in enhancing and maximizing production yields and post-harvest losses. Distinguished guests and friends of Nigeria, this step is one amongst several that we have taken towards expanding our economy.
10. The non-oil sector remains the future of our economy and I hope successive governments will consolidate on the gains we have recorded under my leadership. You will agree with me that the Russia-Ukraine war has compelled many economies to carry out reforms and re-adjust policies to cope with the challenges posed by the conflict. In this regard, we are paying more attention now to energy transmission and distribution through targeted collaboration with global companies like Siemens to improve our efficiency in the Power Value Chain. I would also like to briefly seize this opportunity to touch upon a few points regarding our view of recent events in the energy space. As a member of the global community, we have participated in several rounds of talks regarding climate change and various decisions emerging from COP26 and the just concluded COP27. But as I stated in my Washington Post article, there can’t be a double standard, wherein Western nations use their influence and weight to turn the taps off global financing for fossil fuel transactions which are much needed by developing nations, yet when they feel the pinch they are quick to turn on their coal powered plants. We owe it to our people to create jobs and livelihoods and we can’t accomplish this without maximizing of our comparative advantage in energy to build up our manufacturing and industrial base. Therefore, stronger commitment needs to be made to the fund for climate adaptation and mitigation, if indeed there is intent to establish equity and fairness.
11. Despite glooming outlook in the global economy, and the on-going war in Ukraine, Nigeria’s economy continues to register positive growth, especially in the last two quarters. Government spending on infrastructure has also been a critical aspect of our overall strategy. Our infrastructure deficit is widely known and with the volatility in capital markets, we devised creative ways of funding this infrastructure gap to build roads and thus improving connectivity between markets and facilitating trade. We devised investment tax credit schemes and the use of Sukuk bonds, to reconstruct, develop and rehabilitate over 20,000km of roads. Additionally, we have revitalized our once comatose rail roads such that trains are now up and running along critical corridors in different parts of the country. Our efforts on corruption continue to pay-off as the relevant agencies continue to make impressive recoveries as well as secure Courts convictions of those sabotaging Nigeria’s efforts for sustained development and growth. The major cash recoveries will be deployed in a transparent way towards funding these infrastructure gaps.
12. On security, global terrorism, banditry and other trans-national crimes, these continue to pose enormous challenges not only to Nigeria but to global peace and security, as these acts have become perennial threats to sustained economic development and growth, which ought to be dividends of democracy. Nigeria and other regional bodies in Africa and the rest of the world are working assiduously to deal with these existential threats to the very existence of humanity. As a country, Nigeria continues to engage bilaterally and multilaterally to comprehensibly win the war on Boko Haram and related terror groups as well as overcoming the incidences of kidnapping and banditry in Nigeria. You may recall that when I assumed power, Boko Haram held about two thirds of Borno State, half of Yobe State, and a couple of Local Government Areas in Adamawa State. Today, this is no longer the case. But as a country and sub-region, we continue to be negatively impacted by the events in Libya, Central Africa Republic, The Sahel and the war in Ukraine. Our region is awashed with small and light weapons that continue to seamlessly circulate as well as cope with the influx of foreign fighters.
13. Our Armed Forces and those of our partners in the Multi-national Joint Task Force (consisting of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Nigeria) continue to demonstrate great bravery while paying the ultimate price in securing our collective freedom. Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scare and lean resources to ensure that we have a well resourced military force to take on this task. Ideally, these are resources that could be spend on Education or Health care or other social services, but without peace we have learnt the hard way, that our children cannot go to school or seek good health care. We are nonetheless winning the war and making significant progress in dealing with the threats to Nigeria’s and the sub-regions safety and survival. This steady progress is in spite of the negative reportage in international media as well as the non-chalant actions and attitudes of some of our friends and allies to sufficiently appreciate our efforts in the fight against terrorism. Rather than focus on negativity, which is what Travel Advisories have become, Nigeria, the sub-regions of Africa and the rest of the world can work more concertedly together to combat terrorism and prevent violent extremism, both of which are challenges to global peace and stability and not just Nigeria and Africa alone. Notwithstanding these attitudinal deficits from some friends and allies, Nigeria remains open to working with the International Community and other development partners, to enhance global security and stability.
14. Nigeria, on the other hand, has always maintained that a secured and stable Nigeria is indispensable for the overall peace and prosperity of not only the country but Africa, with huge implications for global peace and stability. Therein lies the wisdom of the persistent efforts by Nigeria and calls for strategic partnership with the USA to fight our common challenges together. Such challenges are terrorism, climate change and deepening democracy in Africa.
15. Presently, Nigeria is collaborating with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism entities in several areas, including building capacity in Criminal Justice Responses through training of Judges, Prosecutors and investigators. Nigeria is on the verge of commissioning her New Counter Terrorism Centre and it would serve as a hub for counter-terrorism coordination and research in West Africa. Our efforts are driven by our Terrorism Prevention Act 2022, the National Counter Terrorism Strategy as well as the Policy Framework and National Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE).
    Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen,
16. The stage is now set for Nigeria to conduct another general election in February 2023 and I am resolute in my determination to enable the conduct of free, fair and transparent national elections in the first quarter of 2023, whose outcome would be largely accepted to the contestants. Since 2015, the conduct of our elections continue to steadily improve. From the 2019 general elections, the by-elections and the off-season elections in Edo, Ekiti, Anambra and Osun States were conducted in largely improved contexts to the satisfaction of contestants and voters. That is what we hope for in 2023. Through the observatory roles of the International Community, the credibility of the elections can be further enhanced to make the acceptability of the outcome to the contestants and political parties a non-issue.
17. Nigeria and USA share many attributes, apart from being among the largest democracies in the world, Nigeria’s constitutional framework and brand of democracy are patterned along that of the USA and the two countries are the largest economies as well as most populous in their respective continents. On our part, Nigeria continues to sustain efforts to improve the political environment and processes through the periodic upgrade of our electoral reforms aimed at promoting acceptability and credibility of election results as is the case with the Electoral Reform Act of 2022 which I recently signed into law.
18. With respect to the sub-region and the need not to cave-in to the democratic set-backs witnessed in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, there is the need to aggressively seek the partnership of the USA, the custodian of open governance to improve the quality of governance in the West African sub-Region, where the survival of democracy, is currently challenged. This can be done through targeted investments that can enhance dividends of democracy and creations of robust means of livelihood for the people as well as promote accountability and transparency by the political class.
19. I call on all of you here present, to continue to partner with us and our electoral body, for the needed collaborative efforts which are critical to deepening and stabilizing democracy in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The recent reversals witnessed in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea are most unfortunate indeed and ECOWAS continues to effectively remain engaged with these countries in order to restore democracy to all the Member-States of ECOWAS as indeed the entire African Continent.
20. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you all for your attention.