Atiku addresses Business Community in Lagos

L-R former governor of Ogun state, Gbenga Daniels, Lagos state governorship candidate of People's Democratic Party (PDP), Jimi Agbaje, PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus,Moderator, Opeyemi  Agbaje, PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, his running mate, Peter Obi, former minister of special duties, Kabiru Taminu Turaki and former governor of Cross River state, Liyal Imoki at a conference on the Economy in Lagos

Presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar said the job creation plays an integral role in the economy’s growth. He said this during a business summit at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, with stakeholders in the business sector to discuss the state of the economy and how to get Nigeria working again. The engagement is part of his policy document to get Nigeria working again. While pointing out that the harsh economic realities are responsible for the current wave of unemployment in the country, Atiku in the company of his running mate Peter Obi, said that it is very heartbreaking to see unemployed youths begging for alms.

“We must create jobs, if not we will get mobbed one day by the unemployed youths. They are like a time bomb… When businesses are folding up , shops are closing , industries are falling, foreign direct investments are not attracted ; poverty is embarrassingly becoming our trademark, the rating of our hardwork businessmen by international rating agencies is becoming decimal; when we have a government that has remained insensitive to all these, I feel it is the time not only to offer myself for service to salvage the situation but also to reiterate my aim to create a strong, resilient and prosperous economy that creates jobs and opportunities for all of us.”

Obi citing China economy said that one of the ways Nigeria can tackle the issue of unemployment is to invest in Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.

“We should be willing to work with people that can learn from nations. The only way to tackle unemployment aggressively is to look at other nations you can compare us with and see how they have been able to address that.  The best nation we can learn from is China. How did China solve the problem of unemployment? They achieved that by using the MSMES.  60 percent of employment in China today comes from that sector. That percentage is responsible for the industrial output and GDP increase. They supported MSMES. We need to do same here.”

Atiku also reiterated his plan to privatize the petroleum and electricity sector while clearly stating that he has no plans to assume the role of Minister of Petroleum if elected. He also promised that his cabinet would constitute 30% of women and 40% of youths as well giving education a key role in his administration.

On tackling corruption, Atiku said that technology will be a right approach.

“We are more educated than the UAE and one of the ways they have been to ensure that there is minimal corruption is to introduce technology driven governance. They tried to eliminate personal contact between members of the faculty with government officials.  We can finally eliminate corruption because it is being played virtually in the public sector.  Don’t think we cannot do it, we can do it. I am just too impatient to see in my lifetime when poverty becomes redundant.”

“Fighting corruption is not an economic policy. No country in the world will focus on only fighting corruption, the various toll gates in government are a problem. In Ukraine and Rwanda, money goes directly from the federal government to schools unlike here where money goes through different agencies. These things should be removed from our system. You should also reduce the meeting points of money and people. And this can be achieved through technology,” added Obi.