Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
A governorship aspirant and the immediate past national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Jalo Dasuki, has said that he would give more attention to agriculture and the non oil sector in order to improve the economy of Gombe State if elected.
He attributed the insecurity being witnessed in some parts of the Northeast zone to the non-engagement of the teeming youth population in useful economic ventures.
Dasuki stated this at the National Secretariat of the party while addressing newsmen after he obtained his nomination and expression of interest forms to contest governorship of Gombe State, also disclosed why maternal mortality rate was high in his State.
Jalo said that most of the people in Gombe State were currently engaged in peasant farming, adding that his major focus will be to devise a means to ensure that the sector is transformed so that farmers can produce more with less effort.
“If you look at the statistics, the average output we have today is about 2.5 tonnes per hectare while in some places, they are even about 10. So, how do we improve on what we have? How do we get something that helps us to move away from the traditional system that we have?
“By doing that, you are improving the economy of our people and the state and also generating income instead of waiting for Federal Government to send the money. how do you generate your own within your state in the federation? This is very important to me,” he said.
The former youth leader also promised to devise ways of bringing insecurity in the state to an end.
The governorship aspirant said that the challenges of insecurity in the zone could be addressed if the teeming youths were properly engaged, adding that there are many potentials in the youths that can be brought out through sound educational policy and programmes.
