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.”
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