OUR POLICIES CREATED STABILITY-GOODLUCK JONATHAN
Being an address delivered by former
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the non-
elective convention of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, on Saturday
Let me start by paying tributes to the founding
fathers of our great party and all others who
had laboured so hard over these past months
to restore peace and tranquility in our party.
The PDP like every successful human
organization has gone through a momentous
time in the last one and half years.
As a party that heralded Nigeria’s return to
democracy in 1999, the PDP had become so
accustomed to success in its 16 years in
power that the first time our fortunes changed
at the polls, it was obvious that the party
would suffer the aftershocks of the loss. It
was in deed a most trying period for us as a
political party.
However, it is not an experience that is
peculiar to us. This because all over the world,
any party that loses election at the centre as
we did, will first of all, struggle to hold
together, before regaining its composure to
effectively present the strong voice of the
opposition, and resume the contestation to
return to office.
But we thank God that the worst is over for
our party. It is to His grace that we were able
to emerge from this unsavoury experience,
from which some political parties in other
emerging democracies hardly recover, to
become even stronger, within a short period of
time.
The PDP is in deed back to reclaim its prime
position as the party to lead Nigeria to
greatness. As a human institution we cannot
claim perfection, but obviously as a political
party, our accomplishments as at 2015, far
outweigh our shortfalls.
Our giant developmental strides are there for
all Nigerians to see. There is ample evidence
to demonstrate that PDP has indeed proved to
be a party of vision and accomplishments.
As I said when I addressed our members in
April during the stakeholders’ forum which I
convened; the 2011, 2015 general elections
and other polls conducted by our
administration were accepted globally to have
met the international standards for free, fair
and transparent elections. There is no
gainsaying the fact that our disposition in
freely handing over power to the opposition,
after the 2015 polls, helped to deepen our
democracy, and project our country as one of
the world’s stable democracies.
This wouldn’t have been possible if our
Government did not reform the electoral and
political process, by giving the independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) the
autonomy it requires, to enable it to conduct
free and fair elections.
On the economic front, we provided focused
leadership, through institutional and sectoral
reforms which impacted positively on the
fundamentals for growth, especially in the last
four years of our time in power. The effect
was that we tamed inflation at a single digit,
maintained price stability, grew the economy
to become the largest in Africa with a GDP of
over half a trillion US dollars, and the number
one foreign direct investment destination on
the continent.
I learnt that some people said that if PDP had
remained in power beyond 2015, the economy
would have performed worse. This couldn’t
have been the case, because we had a sound
economic team in place, managing the
economy. Let us not forget that the great
floods of 2012 was a major calamity that
damaged homes and farmlands on the plains
of River Niger and Benue. But despite the
devastating effect of this natural disaster,
there was no food shortages or arbitrary
increase in prices, because of what we were
able to accomplish with our Agriculture
Transformation Agenda, which considerably
boosted food production.
If we say that we rekindled hope in our people
and regained international goodwill, it is
because we pursued a number of policies and
programs that were not only richly rewarding
for our people, but were also being copied by
many countries across the globe, a few of
which I will mention here.
We can all recall that our agricultural
transformation agenda rapidly transformed key
agricultural value chains, boosted local
production, and created a new generation of
young commercial farmers and agriculture
entrepreneurs we proudly identified as
Nagropreneurs.
One very remarkable achievements of the
reform we introduced were that it ended
decades of fertilizer sector corruption through
electronic wallet system. Since then, its
success has continued to resonate outside our
shores. The program is not only being scaled
up by the African Development Bank but is
already being replicated in close to 20 African
countries.
In fact, three days ago, my attention was
drawn to The Guardian newspaper publication
about a contract that has just been awarded to
a Nigerian IT solutions firm, Cellulant, to export
the e-wallet system which we conceived, to
Afghanistan. This is in deed, a good
development for our country.
I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Livestock in Afghanistan, which
contracted them in their bid to establish a
market-based input distribution technology,
might have been inspired by our own
experience, in successfully deploying the e-
wallet technology to increase food production.
In the same vein, Our Youth Enterprises with
Innovation (YouWin) designed to turn
thousands of youths into entrepreneurs and
employers of labour, has been endorsed by the
World Bank for replication in other developing
countries.
The ECOWAS Commission has since expressed
interest in partnering with Nigeria with a view
to establishing an automotive policy for the
sub-region, in line with our administration’s
auto industry development policy, which led to
the establishment of many vehicle assembly
plants, including indigenous companies.
Our approach to fighting corruption may not
have plugged all the leaks in the system; in
fact, no nation has ever been successful in
eradicating the cankerworm of corruption.
But we went about it in a sustainable and
measurable manner, by, among other
measures, creating institutional tools like bank
verification number (BVN), the treasury single
account (TSA) designed to block leakages, as
well as the Integrated Payroll and Personnel
Information (IPPIS), which eliminated tens of
thousands of ghost workers, during our time.
I have just pointed out these few programmes,
out of our other numerous great achievements
in such sectors as roads infrastructure, rail
services, communications, public financial
management and social services, for you to
know that our records, as members of
Nigeria’s biggest party, still speak for us and
we should be proud of them.
We should always celebrate the fact that the
PDP introduced key policies that improved
governance, enhanced welfare, boosted and
stabilized the economy of our great country,
and above all, gave our people hope.
In closing, I wish to remind all of us that as
politicians, we are bound to have differences.
It is important we manage our differences
responsibly, with an eye on the divine role of
the PDP to lead Nigeria to greatness. Let us
rededicate ourselves to playing by the rules.
Let us all ensure that the PDP is renewed in
vigour to deliver on its divine responsibility to
Nigerians. Let us forget the grievances of the
past, and look to the future with confidence
and optimism.
While I congratulate all delegates to this
convention, I urge you to go back to your
respective constituencies to promote the
ideals of our great party. Let it be known that
our party has been born anew, committed to
the best ideals of democracy.
Let it be known, in all nooks and crannies of
our country, that the PDP is back to claim its
rightful place in the affairs of the nation. As
we have always done, we are ready to return
Nigeria to the path of unity, peace and
prosperity.
I congratulate the Caretaker Committee, our
relentless Governors, the Board of Trustees,
National Assembly caucuses, former
Governors, the ex Ministers’ Forum, our
teeming youths and women for your
steadfastness and dogged contributions to the
sustenance of this great party.
My appreciation also goes to all PDP members
and supporters, both at home and in the
Diaspora.
Source; Vanguard
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the non-
elective convention of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, on Saturday
Let me start by paying tributes to the founding
fathers of our great party and all others who
had laboured so hard over these past months
to restore peace and tranquility in our party.
The PDP like every successful human
organization has gone through a momentous
time in the last one and half years.
As a party that heralded Nigeria’s return to
democracy in 1999, the PDP had become so
accustomed to success in its 16 years in
power that the first time our fortunes changed
at the polls, it was obvious that the party
would suffer the aftershocks of the loss. It
was in deed a most trying period for us as a
political party.
However, it is not an experience that is
peculiar to us. This because all over the world,
any party that loses election at the centre as
we did, will first of all, struggle to hold
together, before regaining its composure to
effectively present the strong voice of the
opposition, and resume the contestation to
return to office.
But we thank God that the worst is over for
our party. It is to His grace that we were able
to emerge from this unsavoury experience,
from which some political parties in other
emerging democracies hardly recover, to
become even stronger, within a short period of
time.
The PDP is in deed back to reclaim its prime
position as the party to lead Nigeria to
greatness. As a human institution we cannot
claim perfection, but obviously as a political
party, our accomplishments as at 2015, far
outweigh our shortfalls.
Our giant developmental strides are there for
all Nigerians to see. There is ample evidence
to demonstrate that PDP has indeed proved to
be a party of vision and accomplishments.
As I said when I addressed our members in
April during the stakeholders’ forum which I
convened; the 2011, 2015 general elections
and other polls conducted by our
administration were accepted globally to have
met the international standards for free, fair
and transparent elections. There is no
gainsaying the fact that our disposition in
freely handing over power to the opposition,
after the 2015 polls, helped to deepen our
democracy, and project our country as one of
the world’s stable democracies.
This wouldn’t have been possible if our
Government did not reform the electoral and
political process, by giving the independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) the
autonomy it requires, to enable it to conduct
free and fair elections.
On the economic front, we provided focused
leadership, through institutional and sectoral
reforms which impacted positively on the
fundamentals for growth, especially in the last
four years of our time in power. The effect
was that we tamed inflation at a single digit,
maintained price stability, grew the economy
to become the largest in Africa with a GDP of
over half a trillion US dollars, and the number
one foreign direct investment destination on
the continent.
I learnt that some people said that if PDP had
remained in power beyond 2015, the economy
would have performed worse. This couldn’t
have been the case, because we had a sound
economic team in place, managing the
economy. Let us not forget that the great
floods of 2012 was a major calamity that
damaged homes and farmlands on the plains
of River Niger and Benue. But despite the
devastating effect of this natural disaster,
there was no food shortages or arbitrary
increase in prices, because of what we were
able to accomplish with our Agriculture
Transformation Agenda, which considerably
boosted food production.
If we say that we rekindled hope in our people
and regained international goodwill, it is
because we pursued a number of policies and
programs that were not only richly rewarding
for our people, but were also being copied by
many countries across the globe, a few of
which I will mention here.
We can all recall that our agricultural
transformation agenda rapidly transformed key
agricultural value chains, boosted local
production, and created a new generation of
young commercial farmers and agriculture
entrepreneurs we proudly identified as
Nagropreneurs.
One very remarkable achievements of the
reform we introduced were that it ended
decades of fertilizer sector corruption through
electronic wallet system. Since then, its
success has continued to resonate outside our
shores. The program is not only being scaled
up by the African Development Bank but is
already being replicated in close to 20 African
countries.
In fact, three days ago, my attention was
drawn to The Guardian newspaper publication
about a contract that has just been awarded to
a Nigerian IT solutions firm, Cellulant, to export
the e-wallet system which we conceived, to
Afghanistan. This is in deed, a good
development for our country.
I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Livestock in Afghanistan, which
contracted them in their bid to establish a
market-based input distribution technology,
might have been inspired by our own
experience, in successfully deploying the e-
wallet technology to increase food production.
In the same vein, Our Youth Enterprises with
Innovation (YouWin) designed to turn
thousands of youths into entrepreneurs and
employers of labour, has been endorsed by the
World Bank for replication in other developing
countries.
The ECOWAS Commission has since expressed
interest in partnering with Nigeria with a view
to establishing an automotive policy for the
sub-region, in line with our administration’s
auto industry development policy, which led to
the establishment of many vehicle assembly
plants, including indigenous companies.
Our approach to fighting corruption may not
have plugged all the leaks in the system; in
fact, no nation has ever been successful in
eradicating the cankerworm of corruption.
But we went about it in a sustainable and
measurable manner, by, among other
measures, creating institutional tools like bank
verification number (BVN), the treasury single
account (TSA) designed to block leakages, as
well as the Integrated Payroll and Personnel
Information (IPPIS), which eliminated tens of
thousands of ghost workers, during our time.
I have just pointed out these few programmes,
out of our other numerous great achievements
in such sectors as roads infrastructure, rail
services, communications, public financial
management and social services, for you to
know that our records, as members of
Nigeria’s biggest party, still speak for us and
we should be proud of them.
We should always celebrate the fact that the
PDP introduced key policies that improved
governance, enhanced welfare, boosted and
stabilized the economy of our great country,
and above all, gave our people hope.
In closing, I wish to remind all of us that as
politicians, we are bound to have differences.
It is important we manage our differences
responsibly, with an eye on the divine role of
the PDP to lead Nigeria to greatness. Let us
rededicate ourselves to playing by the rules.
Let us all ensure that the PDP is renewed in
vigour to deliver on its divine responsibility to
Nigerians. Let us forget the grievances of the
past, and look to the future with confidence
and optimism.
While I congratulate all delegates to this
convention, I urge you to go back to your
respective constituencies to promote the
ideals of our great party. Let it be known that
our party has been born anew, committed to
the best ideals of democracy.
Let it be known, in all nooks and crannies of
our country, that the PDP is back to claim its
rightful place in the affairs of the nation. As
we have always done, we are ready to return
Nigeria to the path of unity, peace and
prosperity.
I congratulate the Caretaker Committee, our
relentless Governors, the Board of Trustees,
National Assembly caucuses, former
Governors, the ex Ministers’ Forum, our
teeming youths and women for your
steadfastness and dogged contributions to the
sustenance of this great party.
My appreciation also goes to all PDP members
and supporters, both at home and in the
Diaspora.
Source; Vanguard
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