• says you not here to make excuses, neither am I
• Ministers sign bond, retreat recommendations released
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu on Friday charged his Ministers to put aside their personal ambitions and focus on his administration’s effort to pull Nigeria out of poverty.
The President gave the charge at the end of the three-day retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries at the State House Conference Center, Abuja.
“Let’s put aside personal ambitions and focus on the progress of our nation
It’s through this we can be truly proud”, he said.
Tinubu stressed that renewed hope agenda, is more than growing the economy, but an indication that the government has a responsibility to all Nigerians to change the narrative about the country, noting that if they have any problem about Nigeria, they should have a conversation about it.
“The renewed hope agenda more than economic growth. Like I said at the opening we can spend the money but we cannot spend the people.
“We have a responsibility to our country to make sure we change completely the narrative about Nigeria.
“If we have problems, let’s talk to one another, let’s have conversations, gentle conversations about our country.
“It’s not about just leave me alone I’m going home, you may not have a home.
“There’s nothing you can do successfully without good healthcare, reduction poverty. Like I said before, poverty is not a shameful thing but is not acceptable.”
The president stressed the need for the officials to bond together and ensure that the country recovers from “elephantiasis.”
While reiterating that Nigeria has a lot of work ahead, President Tinubu added that responsibilities the ministers have are not just titles, but aimed at bringing hope to Nigerians.
“The responsibility we bear are not just titles, they are hope and aspiration of millions of Nigerians.
“You might be ready to forget about the rest of the world but as a Nigerian, let’s go out there, let’s bond together and make sure our country is fully recovered from elephantiasis”, he said.
Tinubu further stressed that no one can make excuses including himself.
The President who said he was proud of the moment they are in, also said that he is proud of himself, added that “I ran for election I won, they took me to court and I also won”.
He then said to the ministers: “I want to obtain a promise that we are going to work as a team, we are going to work for Nigerians. If you agree stand up and say, I am a Nigerian” to which the participants all stood up and repeated the phrase three times.
The President said the retreat tinkered and twigged focused areas.
He listed them to include: “Area one, reform the economy to deliver sustain inclusive growth; Two, strengthen national security for peace and prosperity; Boost agriculture to achieve food security; and Unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development.”
Others are: “Enhanced infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth; Focus on education, health and social investment as essential pillars of development;
Accelerate diversification through industrialisation, digitization and creative industry, manufacturing and innovative technology.”
Hadiza Usman, Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, gave an overview of the details of the Key Performance Indicators ( KPI)
The system also put in place, a Presidential delivery tracker that will ensure that all deliverables are easily identified.
At the 3 day retreat, participants recommended increase in thresholds for key operators, including the Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and other statutory authorities, others include early submission of memos to the cabinet office, a timeline of Wednesdays was set for memo submission, ahead of Monday meetings of the Federal Executive Council,
It was also agreed that Permanent Secretaries will henceforth accompany their Ministers at FEC meetings for easy flow of information, especially during memo defense.
The communique read by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, also recommended the restoration of the FCT master plan.
Under the Marine Economy sub unit, the retreat called for reduction of operators at the port from 11 institutions to 4, under the trade and investment sector, government is to focus on solid minerals development to strengthen new revenue sources.
It also recommended training for technical support system including welders, technicians, amongst others.
The retreat also called for prioritisation of artificial intelligence, while it recommended that performance bond will be developed for civil servants, rewarding good behaviours and punishing deviants
Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, signed the Performance Bond symbolically for the cameras while his colleagues did theirs on their seats.