By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – In line the election time table released by the Independent National electoral commission for the commencement of electioneering campaign, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has rolled out his action plan on how to rebound the economy and get Nigeria working again.
The former vice president who used the opportunity to give insight into his humble beginning and indirectly addressed the question of his source of wealth reminded that he started out as an orphan selling firewood on the street of Jada in Adamawa. He continued, “But God, through the Nigerian State, invested in me and here I am today. According to him, “If Nigeria worked for me, I owe it as my duty to make sure that Nigeria also works for you”. It is time to get Nigeria working again, he maintained.
Atiku Abubakar set out a seven-year timeline in which he intends to deliver on his campaign promises and spelt out ways, figures and duration it would take his government, if elected to achieve them.
Atiku who promised to run issue based campaign presented his agenda sector by sector and are highlighted below:
He promised to grow Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
To build the economy of our dreams, Nigeria will actively support and rely on the private sector as the ‘engine’ of economic growth. The promotion of private sector-led growth shall, indeed, be the first basic principle of our economic development strategy. More specifically, the private sector will drive our policies to industrialize, to commercialise our agriculture, to develop our small and medium scale enterprise and to build a new knowledge economy. It has key roles to play in the development of our human resources and in our effort to increase the stock of our infrastructure. The bulk of the wealth and the new jobs that will be created in the economy will come from the private sector. We will expect a sizeable proportion, up to 70%, of the spending plans of the Federal Government to come from the private sector. To do all these and more, the private sector must be pro-active, strong and resilient. It must demonstrate willingness to think longer-term and engage in productive, pro-growth activities.
We shall deal decisively with security issues, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft. We shall, deploy modern technology in pipeline surveillance as an optimal way of controlling the menace of vandalism and crude theft. We shall intensify our engagement with local communities in the oil production zones to understand their grievances and workout best ways to ameliorate their social and economic conditions
To create three million jobs every year.
Turaki Adamawa said he plans to create jobs because in his many travels across the nation, the one consistent thing he hear wherever he is is that our people need job.
Giving a breakdown of the rate of unemployment in the country, Atiku said, “Close to 16 million people are unemployed, nine million more than in 2014.
“Over two million new entrants join the labour force each year meaning the unemployed share of the labour force more than tripled in less than a decade: from 5.1% in 2010 to 18.8% in 2017
“Unemployment for women and young people is at 33%, 70% of unemployed youths are uneducated and unskilled.
“Creating jobs and economic opportunities for these people will be vital both for reducing the pool of easy recruits for violent groups and reducing underlying grievances that feed the conflict”.
As a solution, he said his administration, if elected in 2019 will, “Launch a new, more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable national Entrepreneurship Development and Job Creation Programme.
“Target the creation of up to three million self and wage-paying employment opportunities in the private sector annually.
“Target all categories of youth, including graduates, early school leavers as well as the massive numbers of uneducated youth who are currently not in schools, employment or training.“Create incubation centres, clusters and industrial/commercial hubs to provide a marketplace for MSMEs and SMPs.
“Champion the repositioning and streamlining the activities of the existing Federal and State Government Job Creation Agencies”.
Develop Infrastructure:
Other areas of focus in terms of infrastructure are the construction of 5,000 kilometres of roads, and 5,000 kilometres of modern railway.
WELFARE:
He promised to empower Nigerian women, reduce maternal mortality and increase their social stability as well as give Nigerian workers a living wage. Adding that his plan will cater for the elderly so that our people will not be afraid of growing old.
Other things Atiku promised to deliver are 20,000 megawatts of electricity and assured that the private sector will get access to credit.
According to him, his administration will declare a state of emergency in the Power Sector so as to ensure that electricity supply situation improves across the country and investor confidence restored in the sector. We will commission a study to review the current industry framework in the light of current realities leading to a complete overhaul of the legal and regulatory framework of the industry. Ensure effective regulatory environment to deliver contract-based electricity market compliant with market rules. d. Intensify rural electrification projects to ensure electricity access to over 80 million Nigerians currently without access to grid electricity.
Accelerating a comprehensive power sector reform to include the provision of licences for mini-grid solutions to power generation and private sector participation in distribution of power. Accelerating the privatization and decentralization of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) by: Incentivizing private investors to put money into the development of multiple green-field mini-grid-transmission systems which would in the medium to long term be looped into the super-grid. Concessioning segments of the national grid to the private sector while government shall focus on its core responsibility of facilitation and enabling the 53 appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks for rapid economic and social development.
EDUCATION:
He plans to give Nigeria’s youth a world class education and see to it that ICT literacy in our schools is a must requirement if we want to make progress and develop. We will encourage the tertiary institutions, research institutes, Innovative Enterprise Institutes (IEIs) and relevant government agencies including The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to develop research capabilities and be actively involved in the teaching and training of our youth in the field of renewable energy, especially solar and wind; artificial intelligence (AI); and nanotechnology. We will ensure that Nigerians actively participate in these new frontiers that not only have implications on the future of work, but also contemporary consequences on employment, healthcare and defence. e. Relying on our competitive labour cost and increasing skill set of our youth, we will provide the right incentives for the establishment of international call centres, service units, assembling services and substantial parts of the manufacturing value chain of major manufacturing companies.
His administration’s policies, he said, as outlined, if implemented, will revitalise Nigeria.
Atiku reminded that he is not just presenting these policies to Nigerians, but wants them to own them. He informed that it can be viewed at http://www.Atiku.org and on pamphlets that will be made available to public to enable Nigeria provide feedback.