President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria made the admission at a Q&A session in Washington, DC, according to a statement from the president's spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, on Saturday.
The event was co-hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
The Nigerian president made use of the occasion to caution western nations from prematurely giving up on fossil resources in the name of environmental preservation.
He asserts that Nigeria's economy has grown positively over the past two quarters despite the dire predictions for the world economy and the Ukraine conflict.
In addition, Buhari asked the foreign media to report on Nigeria more impartially and cautioned Western nations against issuing needless travel advisories on the nation.
Despite the lack of interest from certain allies and friends, he told the world that "Nigeria is nonetheless winning the battle against terrorism."
Buhari stated that the administration has made great strides in addressing the hazards to Nigeria and the rest of the sub-region.
The Nigerian leader also encouraged the United States to do more to strengthen the already-improving quality of governance in the West African area.
He contends that democracy is at danger due to the failures of democracy in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.
The president continued by outlining the steps his government has done to strengthen Nigeria's economy since taking office in 2015.
He claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria's focused interventions in the agriculture sector were responsible for the country's transition from a net importer to a producer of rice, Nigeria's staple crop.
“This same scheme had financed the establishment and operations of over 50 integrated rice mills.
“It had also financed over 4.5 million smallholder farmers, ensured the cultivation of almost 6 million hectares of farmland, and nearly 700 large-scale agricultural projects had been funded.
“This agricultural revolution had led to the creation of over 13m direct and indirect jobs,” he said.
Buhari also informed the Washington, D.C., community of global thought leaders and Democracy Advocacy Groups that strengthening Nigeria’s agriculture sector had improved the country’s standing internationally.
According to him, this meant that the world was prepared for the disruption to food supplies and price increases brought on by COVID-19 and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The revolution in the agro-allied sector, Buhari continued, had increased the country’s capability in these areas, leading to higher production yields and fewer post-harvest losses.
“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 had compelled many economies to implement 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,” he stated.
As a contributing member of the international community, the president noted that Nigeria has taken part in numerous climate change conferences and the different decisions coming from COP26 and the just finished COP27, both of which aim to eliminate the use of fossil fuels by some wealthy nations.
“But, as I stated in my Washington Post article, there can’t be double standards, 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 countries, 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 maximising our comparative advantage in energy to build up our manufacturing and industrial base.”
He argued that a “stronger commitment” must be made to the fund for climate adaptation and mitigation to achieve equity and fairness.
Buhari noted that government spending on infrastructure has been an essential part of the broader strategy in securing the economic revival, which he attributed to recent positive growth.
He explained, “Our infrastructure deficit is widely known. With the volatility in capital markets, we devised creative ways to fund this infrastructure gap to build roads and thus improve market connectivity and facilitate trade.
“We devised investment tax credit schemes and the use of Sukuk bonds to reconstruct, develop and rehabilitate over 20,000kms roads.
”Additionally, we have revitalised our once comatose rail and roads such that trains are now up and running along critical corridors in different parts of the country.”
According to the president of Nigeria, “Our efforts on corruption continue to pay off as the relevant agencies continue to make impressive recoveries as well as secure Court convictions of those sabotaging Nigeria’s efforts for sustained development and growth.”
According to him, these infrastructure shortfalls would be adequately funded by the forthcoming significant monetary recoveries.
The president claimed that contrary to information available when he took office in 2015, no LGA in Nigeria was currently under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.
Nonetheless, the president admitted that the events in Libya, the Central African Republic, the Sahel region, and the war in Ukraine had negatively affected Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
In response to the invasion of foreign fighters, Buhari has stated, “Our region is awash with small and light weapons that continue to seamlessly circulate.”
The president claims that Nigeria and other African and international regional bodies are working tirelessly to counter these threats to humanity’s fundamental survival.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has praised the sacrifices made by the Nigerian military and the Multi-national Joint Task Force (composed of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, the Benin Republic, and Nigeria) in the fight against terrorism.
He added: “Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scarce 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 spent on education or healthcare or other social services, but without peace, we have learnt that our children cannot go to school or seek good healthcare.
“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 despite the negative reportage in international media as well as the nonchalant 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.”
The threats, according to Buhari, are not limited to Nigeria and Africa.
Nigeria, he continued, is still willing to collaborate with the International Community and other development partners to improve international safety and security.
“A secured and stable Nigeria is important for the general peace and prosperity of not only the country but Africa, with tremendous ramifications for global peace and stability,” the president said.
To combat threats like terrorism, climate change, and sustaining democracy in Africa, he stressed the importance of a strategic alliance with the United States.
The president announced that Nigeria was about to open her New Counter Terrorism Centre, which would serve as a centre for counter-terrorism cooperation and research in West Africa.
He states, “our activities are directed by our Terrorism Prevention Act 2022, the National Counter Terrorism Strategy, and the Policy Framework and National Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE).”