President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said his administration was putting machinery in place to end oil theft and other criminal activities that have been inhibiting economic growth in the country.
He also reiterated his commitment to transparency and accountability in the way in which the country’s revenues are managed.
Buhari said this in his address to the United Nations Plenary Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda during the ongoing 70th session of the UN General Assembly holding in New York.
The President said that apart from attempts being made to improve and streamline internally generated revenue in the country, he would also plug all loopholes that had led to illicit capital flight from Nigeria.
He lauded the adoption of the Post-2015 Global Development Agenda, saying that he was pleased that world leaders had reaffirmed their commitment to sustainable development, international peace and security, and the protection of the planet.
Buhari said, “These are really the major issues of the day. For the first time, we have at our disposal a framework that is universal in scope and outlook, with clearly defined goals and targets, and appropriately crafted methods of implementation.
“The Declaration that we have adopted today testifies to the urgency and the necessity for action by all of us. It is not for want of commitment that previous initiatives have failed or could not be fully realised. What seemed to be lacking in the past were political will and the required global partnership to pursue and implement the programmes to which we committed ourselves.
“This Declaration enjoys global consensus. We have agreed to deliver as one and to leave no one behind. This is a promise worth keeping. We have agreed to create viable partnerships and to adopt the means of implementation for the goals and targets of the global sustainable development agenda in all its three dimensions; namely economic, social and environmental.
“The Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda that we adopted in July 2015, offer us a unique opportunity to address the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals.
“They also provide the basis for a new set of global development priorities to usher in a peaceful and prosperous world, where no one is left behind, and where the freedom from fear and want, and for everyone to live in dignity, is enthroned.”
Noting that illiteracy, hunger and diseases are associated evils that go hand in hand with poverty, the President urged the world leaders to do everything possible “to eliminate these ills from our midst by 2030 as the Declaration loudly proclaims.”
“The bottom billion that has neither safety nets nor social protection, need to be rescued from their perpetual state of hopelessness, fear and indignity. This is a task that should have been accomplished decades ago. Now that it has fallen on our shoulders to discharge this responsibility, we should do so with the enthusiasm and commitment that is worthy of the cause.
“We must adopt targeted interventions at both policy and practical levels, to address extreme poverty and combat illiteracy, hunger and diseases. We must create viable partnerships that bring together national, regional and global actors with shared objectives to carry this forward.”
Post a Comment
Post a Comment