By Peter Obi
On 26th of October, our Party, the NDC Campaign Council was inaugurated in Abuja.
As part of my remarks, I told Nigerians how our richly endowed
nation, the giant of Africa, is now the world’s poverty capital. Regrettably,
over 140 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, representing more than
60% of the population.
Corruption remains widespread, while insecurity affects every part of our country. Unemployment and inequality are at record levels, and Nigerians face severe and avoidable hardship. Even with the removal of the fuel subsidy and reckless borrowing, with a debt of over ₦165 trillion, there has been little or no corresponding increase in productivity.
In the last three years, President Tinubu has foisted on Nigeria
a reign of corruption and duplicity, resulting in extreme poverty. Today,
President Tinubu has made history as the leader who has created the largest
number of poor people in the world. This year, he has made about 16 million
Nigerians extremely poor.
Just last Saturday, President Tinubu, while launching his
re-election campaign in Kaduna, blamed past and opposition leaders for the
hunger and poverty that have ravaged Nigerians.
What is clear is that President Tinubu does not have the
competence, the capacity, the character, compassion or the commitment to solve
the problems he created. He lacks the energy and the resolve to get Nigeria out
of the current worsening crisis.
Under President Tinubu, despite his promise to fix electricity,
Nigeria now has the lowest consumption of electricity. Without reliable power,
businesses cannot expand efficiently, hospitals cannot provide dependable
services, schools struggle to operate effectively, and households face
additional financial burdens.
We will pursue an electricity reform programme focused on
reliability, affordability, investment, and accountability.
We will work with relevant federal and state institutions,
regulators, operators, and investors to address the weaknesses affecting
generation, transmission, and distribution.
Under President Tinubu, Nigeria is more divided than ever, more
terrorised than ever and more insecure than ever.
Under President Tinubu, Nigeria has fallen into a crisis of
values, such that our budgets are no longer credible and our laws are forged.
Nothing is sacred. Nothing is spared from degradation, not budgets, not laws,
not institutions.
From our engagements with Nigerians across the country and all
segments of society, the message is clear: Nigerians want and deserve a better,
more productive nation, one in which good governance is visible, firmly
established, effectively practised and embraced as part of our national
culture.
I, Peter Obi, with my very dear elder brother, Rabiu Musa
Kwankwaso, implore and beckon all of you, committed members of our great party,
the NDC, and all Nigerians, to join us in this crusade of rebuilding our dear
and most endowed nation, Nigeria.
Today, we begin a renewed journey towards a New Nigeria, united
by shared purpose, founded on fairness, justice and equity, and committed to
productivity, inclusion and development.
We envision a nation where government prioritises the security
and welfare of its people, good governance prevails, and public officials
remain accountable.
It will be a law-abiding society of healthy, skilled and
educated citizens, where every child attends school and learns to read and
write.
No Nigerian should live in a displaced-persons camp, and
corruption must no longer weaken our institutions or the fabric of our nation.
A New Nigeria is our vision. A New Nigeria is our mission.
Corruption today has become more pervasive under President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu’s APC-led government. No state institution has been spared, and
since 2023, its effects have spread throughout national life.
The founding father of Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew,
once observed that “when a political system is corrupted from the very top to
the lowest levels of the bureaucracy, the problem becomes almost impossible to
solve without a revolution, a thorough cleansing that must begin from the top
and proceed systematically downward.”
He emphasised that such a process requires strong leadership,
courage and moral authority derived from unquestioned integrity.
With the courage and integrity required for this task, I intend,
if elected, to follow this principle by leading a decisive campaign against
corruption—like it has never been fought in this country before.
The OK ticket makes the same firm commitment to securing our
people.
Enough is enough.
Bandits and kidnappers must understand that our amnesty offer
will take effect when our victory is announced.
Any crime committed after our inauguration will be dealt with
decisively. Using every lawful means necessary, we will identify the
perpetrators and their sponsors, dismantle their criminal networks, and restore
order, stability and freedom of movement.
Within our first two years in office, we will resettle
internally displaced people in their communities and empower them to rebuild
their lives with dignity.
Agricultural transformation and industrial growth will be
central priorities of our government. After restoring security, we will help
farmers return to their land, support each state and region in developing
products in which they have the comparative advantage, and build processing
facilities close to farming communities.
Once elected as President in 2027, I will dedicate all my
energies to fulfilling my promise of transforming agriculture and
industrialising Nigeria.
With security restored, we will incentivise farmers to return to
their farms to boost smallholder farming.
We will launch an agrarian revolution whose hallmark will be to
enhance value addition and make agriculture a supplier of adequate and
affordable food for Nigerians and a major export earner.
Our focus will be on ensuring that Nigeria becomes globally competitive
in agro-products where we have comparative and competitive advantage.
We will turn Northern Nigeria, with its enormous land resources
and its hardworking people, into an agro-industrial cluster that boosts
Nigeria’s industrial capacity and growth.
Expectedly, education and health will be among our priorities.
Nations that have been transformed achieved greatness because
they deliberately promoted education and ensured the wellbeing of their people
through the provision of quality education and healthcare.
Our government will work with state governments to improve the
quality of primary, secondary and technical education, including training more
teachers and guaranteeing them improved remuneration and an improved welfare
package.
Our government will ensure that teachers are among the
highest-remunerated groups in Nigeria.
In addition, we shall subsidise education to ensure that no
child or able Nigerian is left behind in the pursuit of education.
Our natural endowment will no longer be wasted or mismanaged.
We will provide different forms of targeted subsidies to key
sectors of our economy to truly support our people and stimulate a new and
productive Nigeria. These subsidies shall be distributed across critical
sectors like education, agriculture and energy, among others.
Let me conclude by stating that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and
I are dedicated to working for a New Nigeria. We will work to aggressively
drive down the cost of living and pull our people out of poverty.
A New and Productive Nigeria is Possible, and Nigeria will be
very OK!
God bless you all, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
*Mr. Peter Obi is the presidential candidate
of National Democratic Congress (NDC)
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