Emameh Gabriel in Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, yesterday, in a statement, in Abuja, said his desire was to offer Nigeria and Nigerians purposeful leadership, drawing strength from the people in general and the youths in particular.
Obi, who said this at the Success Conference 2022, held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state Capital, Saturday, noted that the Nigerian people under his leadership would be involved significantly in policy formulation and administration.
“The overall task of our leadership in 2023 is to streamline governance and ensure that it is responsive, transformative, and effective. We will demonstrate that good governance is all about providing the needed services to the people.
“If elected the next president of Nigeria, youths would be the main proponents of my main agenda to transform Nigeria from a consuming nation to a producing nation. The two main components of this agenda are human capital development and finance
“Under my Leadership, the federal government will prioritise the ability of our educational system to produce the necessary skilled labour force that coincides with the 21st-century labour market demand, alongside providing entrepreneurial education at all levels,” he said.
Obi also stressed the importance of health and education for a country to develop, “given the role of health in reinforcing education in the measure of productivity. My leadership will pay serious attention to the health system by ensuring that at least 100 million poor Nigerians, have access to free medical services through an integrated health insurance scheme.
“If elected, we intend to create a professionally managed SME Equity Fund within the first year of office with the goal of promoting the development of at least one value-added industry that will utilise the local raw material supply, be it agricultural or mineral, in every local government in Nigeria.”
He, however, reiterated his earlier position that the 2023 election should be based on competence, capacity and commitment to doing the right thing and not on ethnicity/tribe and religion since the high cost of living, insecurity and other problems facing the nation do not discriminate against ethnicity/tribe and religion
