Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Friday warned his ministers not to put their personal ambitions first but to focus on his administration’s effort to pull Nigeria out of poverty.
The president gave the admonition at the close of the three-day retreat for ministers, permanent secretaries, presidential aides and other top government officials at the presidential villa in Abuja on Friday.
He told the participants that they have the responsibility to change the narrative about the country, noting that if they have any problem about Nigeria, they should have a conversation about it.
The president stressed the need for the officials to bond together and ensure that the country recovers from “elephantiasis.”
Tinubu declared that they cannot make any excuses just as himself will not be giving Nigerians any excuses.
President Tinubu expressed pride in himself for contesting and winning the 2023 presidential election as well as his cases in the courts.
He said: “We’ have gathered here to sharp the future, no threat about it.
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.
“Let me remind you that you are not here to make excuses neither am I. I’m your friend, your brother, a father and grandfather.
“You must put outside personal ambition and focus on the progress of our nation. It is through this that we can be truly proud.
“I am proud standing before you. I’m very very proud of everyone of you. And I am proud of myself too. I went for election and won with your support, they took me to court and I won.”
While extracting the commitment of the ministers and other government officials to work together as a team to achieve the goals of the administration, President Tinubu said: “We are about to close this three day cabinet retreat. Are we proud that we are Nigerian? Are we sure that we’ve done this?
“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.
Tinubu noted that his administration has tinkered with its focus areas, saying: “Area one, reform the economy to deliver sustain inclusive growth;
“Two, strengthen national security for peace and prosperity; boost agriculture to achieve food security; unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development; enhanced infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth;
focus on education, health and social investment as essential pillars of development; and accelerate diversification through industrialisation, digitization and creative industry, manufacturing and innovative technology.”
Giving a synthesis of the key recommendations from technical sessions of the retreat, the Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume, announced that the retreat has raised the approval threshold for public procurement and encouraged open bidding for transparency.
It recommended formulation of a standardized checklist detailing appointment criteria for Ministers and Heads of Agencies and also, improved alignment of the budget for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to the president’s vision, strategic goals and relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Other key recommendations are to evaluate the efficiency of previous federal government Intervention programmmes and conduct of proper pre-and post-project assessments to determine the efficacy of the programmes.
