The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Monday pledged to restructure Nigeria and pull people out of poverty if elected president in the forthcoming presidential election.
The former Anambra state governor who made the pledge while speaking on Channels Television’s the 2023 Verdict programme, also explained why he was unable to visit the Oba of Lagos during his party’s rally at the Tafawa Balewa square last Saturday.
On restructuring, Obi said, “It is not something that I am going to do by presidential fiat. We are going to sit down and talk, go through the process of rule of law in doing that, but I can assure you we need to restructure. We all have factor endowment that will make the country work, those who are against restructuring might even benefit more.”
He equally reiterated his earlier promise to pull people out of poverty by focusing on promoting micro, small and medium enterprises, noting that the sector is the greatest productive area in any economy.
“The greatest productive area in any economy I have studied is micro, small, medium enterprises. You can go and take a study in various countries, even first world countries talk less of third world countries. The countries that people use as exemplary today and I will always go for the ones with big numbers, from China to India to Indonesia.
“All of them their economies are driven by this sector. So I believe that you need to study, listen to this section because they will propel what we want to achieve and for me, the commitment is to pull people out of poverty that is measurable,” Obi said.
According to him, what governments of the past in Nigeria have continuously failed to do is take stock of how things stand when they come in and how they are going when they have entered office.
“In 2012 our unemployment was between 10 and 12 percent, today it’s 33 to 35, our monetary poverty was 55 million, 33 percent, today it is about forty-something percent and 95 million. Of course, our multidimensional poverty has now increased to 133 million.
“So these are things you need to say if in 2023 a new government comes in, we need to draw a line, this is where we stand and start implementing those things you think that can start reversing the situation and reducing things like poverty, unemployment, inflation in an organised measurable way,” he said.
The Labour Party flag bearer also promised to bring everybody together if he wins the February 25 presidential election, adding that uniting the country means everybody must be given a sense of belonging.
Asked about his thought on opponents who mock him for not having a structure to win the election, Obi said that his structure is the Almighty God and the people of Nigeria.
“When I started, they said it is just four people tweeting in a room, now they are saying I don’t have the structure, I don’t have the number, the number will be determined by the voters. My biggest structure, I said, is the Almighty God followed by the people of Nigeria whom I am pleading with to build a new Nigeria, a new Nigeria is possible,” Obi said.
-Why I couldn’t visit Oba of Lagos
On why he didn’t the Oba of Lagos, Obi explained that the Oba of Lagos, HRH Rilwan Akiolu was not “readily available” when he requested to visit him during his campaign in the nation’s economic capital.
It is customary for presidential candidates to pay homage to first-class traditional rulers when they visit states to campaign but controversy had surrounded Obi’s inability to meet the Lagos monarch during his outing in the state.
However, the former governor of Anambra State said the reports that the first-class monarch refused to see him were untrue.
“On my arrival in Lagos, I did ask that I wanted to visit the Oba whom I regard as a father figure,” Obi said.
According to Obi, what happened in Lagos wasn’t unusual as it had happened during his planned visits to traditional rulers in states he had campaigned. According to him, one or two monarchs were not readily available to receive him in the past but they fixed future dates.
He said, “Some even say, ‘Oh, he (Oba of Lagos) refused to see me’. It is not true.
“The truth is that when we arrived, we wanted to do what we want to do: arrive and drive to the palace and see the Oba but we were told that he is not readily available and that we should apply and come at some other date and that we intend to do because he remains a highly respected father to me and to the entire nation.”
With Channels Television report
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