Buhari to workers: we won’t fail

President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that his administration will have no reason to give excuses for failure to deliver on its electoral promises, as it is determined to tackle all socio-economic ills troubling the nation.

The President said his administration was prepared to evolve solutions to emerging threats to the nation’s well-being and the realisation of sustainable development as well as growth anchored on equity and social Justice.

In an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, at the 2016 May Day celebration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, President Buhari said the government’s efforts at addressing the ills of the society will not be possible without the express cooperation of workers as social partners in the Nigerian project.

According to him, the development of any society must be sustainable for it to benefit society. It is the responsibility of those at the citadel of power to align themselves with the working class who make development possible by generating and sustaining the momentum of positive change, he said.

Assuring Nigerians that his administration shall effect a positive change in the lives of average citizens, Buhari said the government will ensure that the downtrodden are elevated and most importantly fight corruption, which has enriched a few to the detriment of the majority of Nigerians who groan under the weight of poverty and all the superstructural and infrastructural maladies resulting from corruption.

He said: “This year’s celebration is significant in a number of ways. First, it marks the first May Day celebration under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, which brought an end to the 16 years of national squander, bad governance, unbridled corruption and economic woes by the previous administration.

“Second, it is coming at a time when the whole world is experiencing some form of economic crisis or the other. For us whose main foreign exchange comes from oil, the global decline in the price of oil has further exacerbated our economic crisis.

“The resultant effects of this are noticeable in government dwindling resources, reduction in operational capacities of most companies, especially in the oil and gas sector, threat of workforce reduction by multinationals and the escalation of volatility, among others. These developments, no doubt, have socio-economic implications for the economy as well as the working class.

“I will make no excuses as this APC government is determined to tackle headlong, all socio-economic ills that have troubled our nation as we shall evolve solutions to emerging threats to our well-being and the realisation of sustainable development as well as growth anchored on equity and social Justice.

“Development must be sustainable for it to benefit society in general. It is, therefore, the responsibility of those in the citadel of power to align themselves with the working class who make development possible by generating and sustaining the momentum of positive change.

“That is why the present administration has sought and will continue to seek the hand of labour so that together, we can attain the enviable height of progress in our believed country.