Lai: We will do what no other government has ever done

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will handle the economy better than previous governments.

Mohammed said this on Tuesday when the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

Mohammed said the federal government is delivering on its election promises and that only “a few vocal minority are not seeing what the government is doing”.

He added that contrary to expectation and what was done in the past, the government is using a slow approach to fix the economy.

“The administration is on course in the delivery of the three major electoral promises it made before coming to power to fight corruption, fight insecurity and fix the economy,” Mohammed said.

“For many decades we have discovered oil, the country has failed to develop other areas to diversify the economy.

“We came in and we said we are going to do what no government has ever done before and ensure that never again will Nigeria be held hostage by crude oil.

“We are working to develop other sectors of the economy like agriculture, manufacturing, mining and the creative industry so that even if oil falls to as low as 10 dollars a barrel, it will not affect us.

“We are also investing in infrastructure to create the foundation for sustainable economic growth.’’

Commenting on the fight against insurgency, the minister said the government deserved credit for securing the release of some Chibok school girls.

He also maintained that the government was not selective in its fight against corruption.

“We have not been selective in the fight against corruption and that is why we introduced the whistle blowing policy and I am glad to hear that the students are prepared to work with us not just to blow whistle but to blow trumpet,”  he said.

“Our success in fighting insecurity is there for everybody to see. It is not just fighting insecurity but consistently restoring peace to every part of Nigeria.

“In our approach, we are not interested in vilifying anybody but more interested in letting people know how much we are suffering as a result of corruption perpetrated by only a few opportunists.

“If the looted money was invested and utilised, today we are going to have railway, our power will not be epileptic, our roads will be better and we will not have the ighest number of mortality.

He said the national re-orientation campaign ‘Change Begins with Me’ was the greatest legacy of the administration and expressed joy that the students were prepared to partner with government to take the campaign to schools.