J.A.B GROUP of Companies

20/04/2022

03/05/2021

Wow,our God is awesome and wonderful,one who never leaves his children wandering,His ways and acts are past finding out. The more you move closer to him the more you want to move closer,the knowledge of his word are always increasing even as we sit to study and meditate. hmmm,lots of people are out there still praying for revelation. It doesn't just come that way,you dont go to the presence of God for revelation, you just go for fellowship and In communion revelation robs on you. You are filled with revealation in communion. The only revelation that will bring forth change is the birthed in the place of prayer. so stay with the Holy spirit in fellowship. Just commune.

01/01/2018

Welcome to 2018: Our Year Of BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS. Psalms 119:17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. In these year you shall be uplifted and the lord shall increase your greatness and he shall comfort you on every side. This month God wants to renew his covenant with men. This year men will demolish and build altars. Its a month for intimacy with the Holy Ghost. Happy New Year

25/12/2017

Merry Christmas:Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.Aseyi se mi o

01/12/2017

Welcome to the month of DECEMBER,the month of praise,a month where men will continually bask in Joy and sing NEW SONGS unto GOD. I decree that all through d month and d year to come u will continually sing songs of praise,u will sing a NEW SONG dis month, d devil can never take away ur Joy, go and make it with ease, u will not weep, u won't loose any of ur love ones in JESUS NAME. testimonies dat brings an overwhelming joy will come ur way,happenings of joy will fill u on every side.Welcome to the month of NEW SONG.

25/11/2017

*Nigerian-born Chris Imafidon is a Professor at the University of Oxford, England. Though autistic, Imafidon, whose children have been described as world’s brainiest kids, tells ‘NONYE BEN-NWANKWO, how he got to the height he has achieved*

*_You were at the University of Ilorin recently during their graduation and you said you would give a scholarship to the worst graduating student. Why?_*

You might need to ask my grandmother that because she believes that every child, without exception, has a lot to contribute to the society. She would find out what you are capable of doing. In my own generation, I try to implement what she lived by. She didn’t just preach it, she did it. She was interested in every child. I did what she would have done. She is gone now. But I am here to represent her voice. I must not let her voice be unheard in my generation, I will always echo it and my mantra is that every child is a genius. If every child is a genius, then it shouldn’t matter if you are at the top of the class, bottom or middle. The lecturers were arguing with me but I told them that they would see what these people they judged the worst students would become. I would give them scholarships and if they don’t beat the ones you say are the best students after three years, I will publicly apologise.

*_We understand you have placed such bet before…_*

Yes, David Cameron tried it with me and he lost $25m. That was what we used to build our first school in Birmingham. He said that for my child to pass the General Certificate of Secondary Education exam at the age of six, it was just the gene. I told him it didn’t have anything to do with the gene. I told him to give me the worst performing schools and I would work with the least students and he should come back nine months later. He laughed at it. But when he came back nine months later, he knew what he saw. I spoke to the children, I mentored them and I adopted them as if they were my biological children. I didn’t even teach them all the subjects, I just spoke to their personality and I used one or two subjects as samples and they were flying. In one year, they beat the best.

*_But so many people believe that smart kids are born smart and not made to be smart…_*

Shakespeare said some people are born great while others achieve greatness, and some others have greatness instilled in them; giving us a suggestion that when God makes people, He makes some one way and the others another way. God is not jobless to make some human beings with half brains. Don’t ever say somebody is useless. You are not even insulting the person, you are insulting the God that created the person.

*_But in your own case, who saw that greatness in you? Was it your mother?_*

I still tell you that everybody is smart. That is the truth. However, I remember that in my secondary school days, I remember that my Physics teacher said I could not do Physics. I took it like that and I went home and I mentioned it to my mother. My mother quickly called her mum – my grandmother and they went to the school. They almost beat up the Physics teacher. He even had to beg me that if he said anything I didn’t like, I shouldn’t tell them at home.

*_Your parents would have loved you so much…_*

Yes, my mother had a son that died before he was two years. After that, she had another son that also died. So when I came, they used to drive flies away from me. They never allowed anything to touch me even when I was a baby. My father was the only son of his mother. To carry the family name, you must have a son and you protect the son. So anything I did was monitored by my parents and grandparents. All my friends that used to play with me, because of their parental input, scored lower than me. I ended up being different. So if every parent would believe that his child would achieve, that child would indeed achieve. We just need to work out the formula that would make that child achieve what you want him to.

*_So your mother or grandmother had a formula for you too?_*

Yes, mine was football and my mother knew I liked football. But then, whenever she saw me with football, she would take it away from me. She would say I wasn’t working hard enough. But my grandmother would buy me another football and say she would give it to me provided I came first in the class. In fact, I would say my grandmother is the professor and not me. She did all the work to ensure that I am what I am today. If not that she kept ‘bribing’ me to do this and that, I would have just done anything I wanted. So when you saw me working hard to pass an exam, it was mainly because of the football I was promised. I remember a day in my secondary school that I was given my report card, I didn’t go home, I went straight to my grandmother’s house and I gave her the report card. She cooked special food and after that, even while still wearing my uniform, I took the ball she had bought for me and went to the field to play. I played football till it was dark. Remember I hadn’t gone home then, so my parents were looking for me. Later, my father heard I was somewhere playing football. He was angry with my elder sister for allowing me to play football. My father caught hold of me and asked me for my result. I told him I took the first position and he said I made it up. I told him to ask my grandmother. He went to my grandmother and asked her and she told him she gave me the ball because I took the first position in school. He asked her why she didn’t tell him and she said, ‘you, how many times did you ever come first in school?’ So that is the story of my so-called intelligence. It wasn’t based on the love of school, it was based on the fact that I would gain something if I did well.

*_But did you know that your children would ever become world’s smartest kids?_*

I don’t think they are the world’s smartest kids.

*_But that is what they are known as; they are even in the Guinness book of records…_*

It was because British Broadcasting Corporation keeps a record every year during the day the result is announced. There is a programme that BBC runs, CNN later joined them. They usually showcase the best students in that year. So, the first year, Ann Marie, my first daughter passed GCSE exam while she was in primary school. She was the youngest schoolgirl in that year. They had to feature her and interview her. The next year, her younger sister passed the same exam even at a younger age. She was nine then. Then the media said nobody had ever had two siblings from the same family getting that position. Then, Samantha, my third daughter came and wrote that same exam at the age of six and even doubled what they scored. So they just believed that it is in their gene for them to do that well. That was when they started saying those rubbish and calling them world’s smartest kids.

*_But how could a six-year-old pass GCSE exam?_*

She didn’t read any book. She just played games. You don’t need to read any book to play ‘ayo’. She understood big concepts just by playing ‘ayo’. It is funny that they are called the brainiest. They are not. They are just a people that consistently performed well. And to show that they are not the brainiest, I told the BBCwhen they were interviewing me to give me the area with the worst school result and they gave me Hackney. I looked for the worst schools there and that was how I started getting students who are not biologically linked to me and we applied the same concepts and they passed very well.

*_How did you get to know the Queen of England?_*

I don’t know if the story is true but I was told that the Queen’s granddaughter told her that the GCSE exam was so hard and the next morning when the Queen was reading the newspaper, she read about a little girl that had passed the exam at primary school. This was the exam that her 17-year-old granddaughter said it was hard. She was marvelled! She asked how it happened and they told her that my child was a genius and we could also have used African voodoo. She then told them to go and look for me. I didn’t know who the Queen was then. I only knew she is a powerful woman whose picture is on the currency. I never knew she could like me because I was following what my grandmother said I should do. She gave us an award and she became interested in knowing how we were able to do what everybody found so difficult. That was how our royal journey started. But it is not difficult to pass; you only have to know the steps.

*_What are the steps?_*

Just know the limit of your mentality. You have to have a mentality that you can do something. Then you have to have a mentor. The mentor would help you construct the next step, which is the module that you would follow. Then you have to have a modality.

*_Why did you migrate to the United Kingdom by the way?_*

What I wanted to study was not available here and in Africa, I had to go to the UK for it.

*_What’s the course?_*

It’s a postgraduate qualification in a specialised aspect of ophthalmology. I wouldn’t want to bore you with it. But the essence is that you will be able to wear contact lenses in the normal eyes and you don’t have infections and inflammations or redness. I had to study it either in the US or the UK. My options were limited. I did my first degree in Nigeria. The career path in Nigeria is traditionally British. The country went gaga and changed everything to American. But then, it didn’t play any role in what eventually became of me. What became of me was learning to learn. As such, I get irritated when people tie themselves to one profession or one job.

*_Nobody would know you were autistic…_*

I was autistic!

*_Were you stigmatised as a child back then?_*

Of course. I was teased and taunted by my colleagues and friends. People would always pick on you. People would always laugh at you. One of the signs of an autistic person is stammering. The society will laugh at you. If you have good parents, they will reassure you and protect you. I never allowed such to stop me. My grandmother made sure of that.

*_You must have also taught your kids a lot…_*

Buy your kids toy instruments. Let them ruin them if they must. It sounds very expensive anyway but you are teaching the child more than any book because the child is doing it and knowing it and fixing it. My children ruined a lot of my computers when they were growing up. I was so annoyed. But they turned out well. That is why my girl had to get me an iPad when she started working. She tried to compensate me for all the devices they ruined. But all that they ruined made them understand the internal workings of the devices. When she went to school, the school computer crashed. The head teacher’s PA called the technical support team to come and fix it. My daughter came in, saw the screen with the error message and said she could fix it since it was the same message that was on the one she fixed at home. She was able to fix it instantly and it started working. When the engineer came, they told him a little girl had fixed it. He insisted on seeing my daughter. She told him what she did to the computer and the man opened his wallet and gave her 20 pounds! She was seven years then. The man looked at the head teacher and other staff members and told them if they had problems with their computers, they should call my daughter first before calling him. That was what changed her entire life. She did Information and Communications Technology exam when she was in primary school. She built the website for the school when she was still in primary school. The website won multiple awards. She became the technical director of the school. Why am I saying all these? As parents, we are very careful with all our devices. We don’t even allow our kids to touch our phones. Allow them! Sometimes, they would even be able to restore and repair it. You don’t know where they will be exposed to tomorrow. Every child is a genius. That is what I believe in.

*_Could that be why you decided to work with the Child Dignity Foundation?_*

The society said autism is a disease but autism is a gift. If you think it is a disease, then you cure it. If you see it as a gift, you have to celebrate it and it will replicate. When I heard what the Executive Director of CDF, Amaka Awogu, is doing with autistic kids and those who have Down Syndrome, I decided to key into it. It is irritating to me that we treat autistic people as less than human. We even classify them as disabled. I am challenging the mainstream and I say that I will work with autistic kids and at the end of nine months, if they don’t beat your best, then I will apologise publicly. I know what an autistic child is about. I didn’t read it; I know what it is about.

*_Did you ever know you would get to this level back then?_*

How could I have known? Who would have told me?

*_How is life in the UK? Is there any form of segregation even now that the world is developed?_*

There is no racism. I can tell you clearly. Anytime they see talent, they forget about your colour. They come here to look for (Nwankwo) Kanu to come and play football for Arsenal. He is not from London, so why did they give him that opportunity to play for them and they paid him millions of pounds even more than the Arsenal boys who were there before him? Talent lifts you above geographical boundaries or even racial boundaries. I am not supposed to have access to the Queen but a goldfish has no hiding place. The Queen read how the kids were doing in school and requested to see me. She said we have 35 per cent pass rate in Maths in England and this man is making primary school children to pass Maths, is it voodoo? My children received royal awards.

*_Your children passed secondary school exams in primary school, how then did they further their education?_*

My son and daughter passed secondary school exam and the school board had to meet and they asked themselves what they would do. There was no question paper in that primary school that they couldn’t pass. So they had to vote an amount for them and so, every Wednesday, the head teacher would put them in her car and drive them to a secondary school so that they could join them to do Maths that is appropriate to their level. My younger daughter, Samantha, had to even do double Maths at the age of six. It hadn’t happened anywhere on the planet before her. I am telling this story because I want to let you know that your talent can trump your race, gender, country or anything because it is a competitive world. We blew Guinness books of records. You will not hear so much about Christiana in the press because she is too busy. At 11, she got a scholarship from the national government to go to a university. It is official. You can check it out at the University of Cambridge website. She studied Mathematics and Statistics. At 14, HSBC gave her a place in the bank and after two weeks, they gave her a credit card. Remember she wasn’t entitled to a credit card at that age. After a month, they said she should go to the stock exchange.

*_In all you do, do you even get tired?_*

Why? This is my hobby! You don’t get tired of doing what you love. You don’t retire from your hobby, you retire from a job. Your job is the profession you do every day to earn a living. I do what I love and I love what I do. I will keep working and working until I expire. Every single human being is a genius and I would want to open that greatness so that everybody would see it.

*_For 30 years, you did not return home since you left for England, why?_*

I wasn’t even supposed to be here now. The first person that invited me to come to Africa was Nelson Mandela. He read about us in the newspaper and he wept like a baby. They had told Mandela that when God was giving IQ, he only gave it to white people and gave the remnant to black people. So when he saw it on TV that a black person defeated a white person in intellectualism, he was thrilled. It’s so painful that he died before we could go there. He didn’t just want me to come; he had wanted the whole family to come when he heard about our story.

*_Did your grandmother live to see what you eventually became?_*

That is why I am sad. She didn’t live enough to see my children. I would have loved for her to have seen the fruit of what she planted. She told me how the educational system suppressed the women in her time. I was pampered by my grandmother.

*_Copyright PUNCH._*

02/10/2017



Nigerian Independence day: Full Text of President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech

ADEKUNLE

1 OCT 2017

Nigerian Independence day October 1st remains a special date for all Nigerians as this marks the day when we attained one of the most precious of human desires — freedom.

Over the years the country has gone through trials and tribulations, but October 1st is always a day for celebrations.

President Buhari while addressing the nation on 1st Oct 2017

It is a day for thanks giving, reflection and re-dedication.

It is also a day for remembrance. We should remind ourselves of the recent journey from 1999 – 2015, when our country happily returned to democratic rule.

However, in spite of oil prices being an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1m barrels a day, that great piece of luck was squandered and the country’s social and physical infrastructure neglected.

We were left with no savings and huge infrastructure deficit.

The APC Government’s Campaign rallying cry to restore security, re-balance the economy and fight corruption was not all rhetoric.

The country must first be secured. The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone. We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s Number One Enemy. Our Administration is tackling these tasks in earnest.

In the past two years, Nigeria has recorded appreciable gains in political freedom. A political Party at the Centre losing elections of State Governor, National Assembly seat and even State Assemblies to the opposition parties is new to Nigeria. Added to these are complete freedom to associate, to hold and disseminate opinions. Such developments clearly attest to the country’s growing political development. But like all freedoms, this is open to abuse.

Recent calls on re-structuring, quite proper in a legitimate debate, has let in highly irresponsible groups to call for dismemberment of the country. We can not and we will not allow such advocacy.

As a young Army Officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through.

I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.

At all events, proper dialogue and any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at the National and State Assemblies. These are the proper and legal fora for National debate, not some lop-sided, un-democratic body with pre-determined set of objectives.

Government is keeping up the momentum of dialogue with stakeholders in the Niger Delta to keep the peace. We intend to address genuine grievances of the communities.

Government is grateful to the responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

SECURITY

On security, Nigerians must be grateful to our gallant Armed Forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets.

Nigeria is grateful to its neighbours and the international community for the collective efforts to defeat this world-wide menace of terrorism.

Not even the most organized and most equipped police and security forces in the world can escape the menace of modern day terrorism, as we have seen in recent years in Europe and other parts of the world.

But we are not letting up. Our Armed Forces in an effort to enhance the operational capability of troops of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE have established Mobile Strike Teams in the North East. These will ensure the final push to wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram.

In addition, through targeted air strikes most of the leadership and identified logistics bases and routes of the insurgents have been neutralized. The Armed Forces have established a Naval presence in the Lake Chad Basin as part of the coordinated military efforts to curtail the movements or re-emergence of the sect in the area.

Government is working round the clock to ensure release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as other persons in Boko Haram captivity. Government will continue to support the Armed Forces and other security agencies to fight not only terrorism, but kidnapping, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers violence and to ensure peace, stability and security in our country.

ECONOMY

With respect to the economy, the Government has remained pro-active in its diversification policy. The Federal Government’s agricultural Anchor Borrowers Programme, which I launched in November 2015, has been an outstanding success with:

· N43.92 billion released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions,

· 200,000 small holder farmers from 29 states of the federation benefitting,

· 233,000 hectares of farmland cultivating eight commodities, namely Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, soya-beans, Poultry, Cassava and Groundnuts, in addition to fish farming.

These initiatives have been undertaken in close collaboration with the states. I wish to commend the efforts of the Governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa States for their support to the rice and fertilizer revolutions.

Equally commendable are contributions of the Governors of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau States for their support for the Presidential initiative for palm oil, rubber, cashew, cassava, potatoes and others crops.

With the abundance of rainfall last year and this year, agriculture has enjoyed Divine intervention.

Since December last year, this Administration has produced over 7 million 50Kg bags of fertilizer. Eleven blending plants with a capacity of 2.1 million metric tons have been reactivated. We have saved $150 million in foreign exchange and N60 billion in subsidy. Fertilizer prices have dropped from N13,000 per 50Kg bag to N5,500.

Furthermore, a new presidential initiative is starting with each state of the Federation creating a minimum of 10,000 jobs for unemployed youths, again with the aid of CBN’s development finance initiatives.

Power remains a huge problem. As of September 12th, production of power reached an all — time high of 7,001 Megawatts. Government is increasing its investment, clearing up the operational and financial log jam bedeviling the industry. We hope to reach 10,000 Megawatts by 2020.

Key priorities include better energy mix through solar and Hydro technologies. I am glad to say that after many years of limbo, Mambilla Power Project has taken off.

Elsewhere in the economy the special window created for manufacturers, investors and exporters, foreign exchange requirements has proved very effective. Since April, about $7 billion has come through this window alone. The main effect of these policies is improved confidence in the economy and better investment sentiments.

The country has recorded 7 consecutive months of lower inflation, Naira rate is beginning to stabilize, appreciating from N525 per $1 in February this year to N360 today. Broad-based economic growth is leading us out of recession.

Furthermore, in order to stabilize the polity, the Federal Government gave additional support to states in the form of:

·State Excess Crude Account loans,

·Budget Support Facility,

·Stabilization Fund Release

to state and local government as follows:

·N200 billion in 2015

·N441 billion in 2016

·N1 trillion in 2017

Altogether totaling N1.642 trillion.

This was done to enable states to pay outstanding salaries, pensions and small business suppliers who had been all but crippled over the years.

In addition, the Government’s current N500 billion Special Intervention Programme is targeting groups through;

· Home Grown School Feeding Programme,

· N-Power Job creation to provide loans to small-scale traders and artisans,

· Conditional Cash Transfer,

·Family Homes Fund and

·Social Housing Scheme

CORRUPTION

Fellow Nigerians,

We are fully aware that fighting corruption was never going to be a straightforward task. We expected corrupt elements to use any weapon to fight back, mainly judicial obstruction and political diversion. But we are determined to eradicate corruption from our body politic.

In this fight, the Government has:

·Empowered teams of prosecutors,

·Assembled detailed databases,

·Accelerated the recovery of stolen funds

The Administration’s new institutional reforms include:

·Enforcing Treasury Single Account,

·Whistle-Blowers Policy,

·Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System

We have signed multi-lateral cooperation agreements on criminal matters with friendly countries. There are signs of increasing cooperation from the Judiciary. Recently the Chief Justice of the Federation directed Heads of all our Courts of first instance and Appeal to accelerate hearings of corruption cases and dismiss any judicial officers found to have been compromised.

Justice Salami has just been appointed to chair the Judiciary’s anti-graft committee. Government expects a lot from this Committee.

I commend the National Assembly for refocusing on its oversight committees. They should, in addition, ensure swift passage of enabling corruption laws. But fighting corruption is a bottom to top operation. I call on all Nigerians to combat corruption at every turn. By not asking for and refusing to accept a bribe, by reporting unethical practices or by blowing a whistle, together we can beat corruption. The government for its part will work for accountability at all levels – Federal, State and Local Governments. CHANGE will then be real.

As we enter the second half of our term of office, we intend to accelerate progress and intensify our resolve to fix the country’s challenges and problems.

Thank you and a happy holiday to all of you.

God bless our country



Nigerian Independence day: Full Text of President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech

ADEKUNLE

1 OCT 2017

Nigerian Independence day October 1st remains a special date for all Nigerians as this marks the day when we attained one of the most precious of human desires — freedom.

Over the years the country has gone through trials and tribulations, but October 1st is always a day for celebrations.

President Buhari while addressing the nation on 1st Oct 2017

It is a day for thanks giving, reflection and re-dedication.

It is also a day for remembrance. We should remind ourselves of the recent journey from 1999 – 2015, when our country happily returned to democratic rule.

However, in spite of oil prices being an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1m barrels a day, that great piece of luck was squandered and the country’s social and physical infrastructure neglected.

We were left with no savings and huge infrastructure deficit.

The APC Government’s Campaign rallying cry to restore security, re-balance the economy and fight corruption was not all rhetoric.

The country must first be secured. The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone. We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s Number One Enemy. Our Administration is tackling these tasks in earnest.

In the past two years, Nigeria has recorded appreciable gains in political freedom. A political Party at the Centre losing elections of State Governor, National Assembly seat and even State Assemblies to the opposition parties is new to Nigeria. Added to these are complete freedom to associate, to hold and disseminate opinions. Such developments clearly attest to the country’s growing political development. But like all freedoms, this is open to abuse.

Recent calls on re-structuring, quite proper in a legitimate debate, has let in highly irresponsible groups to call for dismemberment of the country. We can not and we will not allow such advocacy.

As a young Army Officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through.

I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.

At all events, proper dialogue and any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at the National and State Assemblies. These are the proper and legal fora for National debate, not some lop-sided, un-democratic body with pre-determined set of objectives.

Government is keeping up the momentum of dialogue with stakeholders in the Niger Delta to keep the peace. We intend to address genuine grievances of the communities.

Government is grateful to the responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

SECURITY

On security, Nigerians must be grateful to our gallant Armed Forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets.

Nigeria is grateful to its neighbours and the international community for the collective efforts to defeat this world-wide menace of terrorism.

Not even the most organized and most equipped police and security forces in the world can escape the menace of modern day terrorism, as we have seen in recent years in Europe and other parts of the world.

But we are not letting up. Our Armed Forces in an effort to enhance the operational capability of troops of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE have established Mobile Strike Teams in the North East. These will ensure the final push to wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram.

In addition, through targeted air strikes most of the leadership and identified logistics bases and routes of the insurgents have been neutralized. The Armed Forces have established a Naval presence in the Lake Chad Basin as part of the coordinated military efforts to curtail the movements or re-emergence of the sect in the area.

Government is working round the clock to ensure release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as other persons in Boko Haram captivity. Government will continue to support the Armed Forces and other security agencies to fight not only terrorism, but kidnapping, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers violence and to ensure peace, stability and security in our country.

ECONOMY

With respect to the economy, the Government has remained pro-active in its diversification policy. The Federal Government’s agricultural Anchor Borrowers Programme, which I launched in November 2015, has been an outstanding success with:

· N43.92 billion released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions,

· 200,000 small holder farmers from 29 states of the federation benefitting,

· 233,000 hectares of farmland cultivating eight commodities, namely Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, soya-beans, Poultry, Cassava and Groundnuts, in addition to fish farming.

These initiatives have been undertaken in close collaboration with the states. I wish to commend the efforts of the Governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa States for their support to the rice and fertilizer revolutions.

Equally commendable are contributions of the Governors of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau States for their support for the Presidential initiative for palm oil, rubber, cashew, cassava, potatoes and others crops.

With the abundance of rainfall last year and this year, agriculture has enjoyed Divine intervention.

Since December last year, this Administration has produced over 7 million 50Kg bags of fertilizer. Eleven blending plants with a capacity of 2.1 million metric tons have been reactivated. We have saved $150 million in foreign exchange and N60 billion in subsidy. Fertilizer prices have dropped from N13,000 per 50Kg bag to N5,500.

Furthermore, a new presidential initiative is starting with each state of the Federation creating a minimum of 10,000 jobs for unemployed youths, again with the aid of CBN’s development finance initiatives.

Power remains a huge problem. As of September 12th, production of power reached an all — time high of 7,001 Megawatts. Government is increasing its investment, clearing up the operational and financial log jam bedeviling the industry. We hope to reach 10,000 Megawatts by 2020.

Key priorities include better energy mix through solar and Hydro technologies. I am glad to say that after many years of limbo, Mambilla Power Project has taken off.

Elsewhere in the economy the special window created for manufacturers, investors and exporters, foreign exchange requirements has proved very effective. Since April, about $7 billion has come through this window alone. The main effect of these policies is improved confidence in the economy and better investment sentiments.

The country has recorded 7 consecutive months of lower inflation, Naira rate is beginning to stabilize, appreciating from N525 per $1 in February this year to N360 today. Broad-based economic growth is leading us out of recession.

Furthermore, in order to stabilize the polity, the Federal Government gave additional support to states in the form of:

·State Excess Crude Account loans,

·Budget Support Facility,

·Stabilization Fund Release

to state and local government as follows:

·N200 billion in 2015

·N441 billion in 2016

·N1 trillion in 2017

Altogether totaling N1.642 trillion.

This was done to enable states to pay outstanding salaries, pensions and small business suppliers who had been all but crippled over the years.

In addition, the Government’s current N500 billion Special Intervention Programme is targeting groups through;

· Home Grown School Feeding Programme,

· N-Power Job creation to provide loans to small-scale traders and artisans,

· Conditional Cash Transfer,

·Family Homes Fund and

·Social Housing Scheme

CORRUPTION

Fellow Nigerians,

We are fully aware that fighting corruption was never going to be a straightforward task. We expected corrupt elements to use any weapon to fight back, mainly judicial obstruction and political diversion. But we are determined to eradicate corruption from our body politic.

In this fight, the Government has:

·Empowered teams of prosecutors,

·Assembled detailed databases,

·Accelerated the recovery of stolen funds

The Administration’s new institutional reforms include:

·Enforcing Treasury Single Account,

·Whistle-Blowers Policy,

·Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System

We have signed multi-lateral cooperation agreements on criminal matters with friendly countries. There are signs of increasing cooperation from the Judiciary. Recently the Chief Justice of the Federation directed Heads of all our Courts of first instance and Appeal to accelerate hearings of corruption cases and dismiss any judicial officers found to have been compromised.

Justice Salami has just been appointed to chair the Judiciary’s anti-graft committee. Government expects a lot from this Committee.

I commend the National Assembly for refocusing on its oversight committees. They should, in addition, ensure swift passage of enabling corruption laws. But fighting corruption is a bottom to top operation. I call on all Nigerians to combat corruption at every turn. By not asking for and refusing to accept a bribe, by reporting unethical practices or by blowing a whistle, together we can beat corruption. The government for its part will work for accountability at all levels – Federal, State and Local Governments. CHANGE will then be real.

As we enter the second half of our term of office, we intend to accelerate progress and intensify our resolve to fix the country’s challenges and problems.

Thank you and a happy holiday to all of you.

God bless our country