The Labour Party's nominee for president, Peter Obi, asserts that he will handle the protests by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by improving as a leader. He made this disclosure while outlining his plan for reforming Nigerian policy and governance at the Chatham House in the United Kingdom.
Chatham House is one of the global policy institute whose objective is to assist government and societies in creating a long-lasting, secure and just world.
Obi in his address said “IPOB and other agitations in the country are a culmination of years of bad leadership,” Obi said. “All those things will start reversing themselves when the leadership problem is sorted. I and Datti will talk with all agitators.”
In response to the question of foreign direct investment in the nation, he declared that corruption is a concern for foreign investors and that he would do everything in his power to eradicate corruption completely so that even Nigerian youths who have left the country in search of employment opportunities would come back.
The former governor of Anambra State also claimed that Nigeria's present racial unrest and agitations were caused by injustice, unfairness, and marginalization.
He stated that if he were to be elected president, he was confident that the tension would greatly decrease if the complaints of the numerous agitators were addressed and handled.
“It is bad and it is a result of injustice, unfairness, and marginalisation. As soon as you resolve these issues it starts going down. We would show compassion, we would show love, we would lead from the front”, Obi said.
In response to inquiries about how he intended to address the recent wave of insecurity in Nigeria, Obi stated that he was prepared to engage in dialogue with resentful groups in order to find a long-term solution to the security issue. He added that those who were not willing to engage in dialogue would face consequences.
As governor of Anambra State, Obi emphasized that he had the ability to address the threat to national security and had successfully secured the South East state.
“Securing Nigeria is possible, I secured Anambra State, we would talk with those who are ready, it would be carrot and stick; those who are not ready we would deal with them,” he said.
The LP presidential candidate also stated that if elected, his administration would use the public-private partnership model to run public tertiary institutions throughout Nigeria. He further pledged to ensure that public basic education was free throughout the nation, particularly in northern Nigeria.
“We would ensure that basic education is free, we would drive it”, he stated.
When asked if, if elected, he would remove CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, Obi responded that it was crucial that the CBN's independence be preserved and emphasized that it was the political system's fragility that was allowing the monetary space.
“CBN would maintain its independence; it is not a question of the person there. Weakness of the political space allows the monetary space to take over because it is a weak structure that is allowing that to happen”, Obi enthused.
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