– Pledges To Give Priority To Agriculture And The North If Elected President In 2023

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 Elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has told Nigerians that if he is elected President, his economic revival policy will give the Northern Region a premium place because, according to him, “the wealth of the nation is in the region.”

Obi who titled his remarks, ‘the unmet Needs of the North’, told the Arewa Joint Committee Interactive Session at the Arewa House Auditorium, Kaduna, on Monday 17th October, 2022, that “the region is strategic to the development plans of Obi-Datti administration if elected President in 2023.

“We shall pay as much attention to the development of the North as to the development of all other parts of the country; but with much greater emphasis on the development of the Agricultural resources. The North remains where the biggest and sustainable wealth of this great Nation lies,” he said.

According to him, if elected, his government “intends to pursue aggressively policies, programmes and projects to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of all the sectors of the Nigerian economy.

For the North in particular, he said the Obi-Datti team will: “offer immediate and decisive, long-lasting and permanent-effect resolution of all security challenges in the North; Ensure that farmers return to all farmlands for the 2023 farming Season.

“We will make Nigeria’s arable land in the North her new oil and gold.

And as part of our Marshall Plan for Education, “we will foster Federal intervention in education at all levels in the North and partnership with State Governments and international organizations in order to improve access to affordable and quality education at all levels; “Ensure very adequate representation in government, equitable appointments especially in the Security and Economic Sectors; Incentivize the resuscitation of the moribund cotton and textile industries; and full exploration of the cattle economy value chain, notably the $75b global hide and skin economy.”

Obi also said that Nigeria’s share of the global industry is envisaged to generate over $1bn by 2025; and his administration will ensure very generous deployment and allocation of economic and social projects and infrastructure in the North – with keen attention to Roads, Energy, Power, and Dams- and Solar energy from Sunlight.”

Obi contended that a New Nigeria is possible, adding that Nigerian people want solutions to the many problems confronting them.

To achieve these, Obi said: “We must return to dreams of our founding fathers to create an egalitarian society. The Nigeria we seek will be a United and Secure Nigeria that symbolizes the spirit, letters, and exhorting ethos of our national anthem – “one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity” where “peace and justice shall reign.”