The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari are real and his administration has impacted positively on millions of Nigerians.
The minister stated this on Sunday in Abuja at an event tagged “Testimonies of Change,” designed to showcase the achievements of the Buhari Administration.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the event witnessed personal testimonies of people who had benefitted from various programmes of government.
The minister noted that in just three and half years, and with very limited resources, the government had achieved a lot compared to other Administrations that had presided over the affairs of the country since 1999.
“No one can better tell Nigerians about the impact of the Home-grown School Feeding System than the 9.2 million school children who are fed one meal a day, five times a week, or the over 90,000 cooks who have been employed under the programme.
“No one can better tell Nigerians about the impact of the N-POWER than the 500,000 graduates who have been employed under the scheme.
“If you want to know about the success of Tradermoni, ask any of the 2 million beneficiaries.
“If it’s Marketmoni, ask any of the over 350,000 beneficiaries.
“Who can better communicate the efficiency of the Abuja to Kaduna rail transportation than the thousands of people who are daily ferried between the two cities.
” If the government says it has paid pensioners from the defunct NITEL and Nigeria Airways, among others, is it not better to hear directly from those who have received their pensions after waiting for many years?,” he stressed.
Mohammed said his ministry had used many platforms to communicate government’s numerous achievements to Nigerians, including Town-Hall Meetings, media tour of projects and regular press conferences.
He explained that the “Testimonies of Changes” platform, which was a personal
testimonies of government, was a better evidence of what this Administration had achieved.
“Starting late last year, the testimonies have been running on radio and television stations across the country, as well as in the social media.
“Just as we envisaged, this testimony series, has been a huge success.
“In fact, it so rattled the opposition that they were forced to issue a statement in which they acknowledged that the media space is awash with the testimony series.
“Now, we won’t be surprised if the naysayers, who have never seen anything good in this Administration, say that those who participated in the testimony series are card-carrying members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
Among those who benefitted from the various programmes of government, and who narrated their experiences were former workers of the defunct NITEL, MTEL and Nigeria Airways, who were paid their pensions after decades of waiting.
Beneficiaries of NPOWER, Trader Money, School Feeding Programme, Anchor Borrower Programme, as well as traditional rulers from communities where government constructed roads, also spoke at the occasion.
NAN reports that the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, represented the President while the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita attended the event.
