On Sunday, Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, appeared live on Channels Television’s Town Hall series to explain to Nigerians what they have to offer if elected.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, maintained his position that if certain groups engage in dialogue, things will improve in the country.
Managing Agitation
During The Peoples Townhall event on Sunday, Obi stated that his administration would welcome a round table discussion with all agitators in the country if elected.
He said:
We are in a democratic dispensation; you govern by discussing, you govern by consensus. So, I will sit down and discuss with every agitator without the exception of the name. We must use carrot and stick (approach).
I will discuss with those who want to discuss. You have to look at what is causing agitations today; it is issues of injustice, issues where there is no fairness, issues to do with power and unemployment.
When you start to address these issues and you engage them in discussions and you start bringing them to the table, no agitator anywhere in the world will the see the reason that things are going the way they ought to and will continue to agitate because they are agitating for something, Obi said.
The presidential candidate insisted that dialogue is the best way to end agitations, adding that agitation is normal in any democracy.
Obi said that children are agitated even at home, but when their parents sit them down and explain things, they see reason and eventually agree.
He stated that Nigeria would remain in crisis if the government continued to practice injustice, unfairness, poverty, unemployment, and young people not knowing where their next meal would come from.
Security
Speaking on how his administration will deal with the country’s security challenges if given the opportunity to Aso Rock, Obi said he would build a broad-based framework to address the perennial security challenges at all levels.
He emphasized that security personnel would be highly motivated to perform their duties as expected.
He said;
For our men and women in the security, we will ensure they are motivated and supported and properly insured and make sure they are confident their families are protected in case something happens to them. All procurement in the Military and other sectors must be transparent. It must be measurable and visible. The days of doing things hidden are gone.
We need to involve every community in Nigeria in security where each community secures their community and shares information with other communities.
We have to be alive for the constitution to be amended, not wait for all of us to be dead before doing something. I will use my powers as the President and Commander-in-Chief to secure Nigeria as quickly as possible, the former Governor of Anambra said.
Obi, who promised to exhaust all carrots before bringing the sticks, recounted a personal experience when he visited an Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Benue state.
He said:
I visited an IDP camp in Benue state. I listened to their issues and told them that if I were the president of Nigeria, ‘I will take your issues personally because as long as you are in IDP camp, Nigeria and Nigerians are in IDP camp.
Tackling Corruption
Obi’s running mate, Yusuf Datti, who earlier broke down in tears while lamenting the political insults directed at his late father, said he and his principal are both ready to tackle critical issues that will unlock Nigeria’s potential.
Yusuf Datti said:
We will address unprecedented, aggravated corruption. We deserve the votes of Nigerians because this is turning out to be an election based on character backed by records, competence, and capacity.
Northern Nigeria is paying a massive price today because they have been voting based on ethnic and religious lines for a long time We are going to stop the killings and start the healing; stop the stealing and start the keeping; stop the slide of our currency and start the climb of our society,” he said.
On what informed his decision to join the presidential race, the former Anambra state governor said the desire to see a new Nigeria where citizens would be proud of their country motivated him to seek the people’s support.
I decided to be part of this race because we want to start turning Nigeria around for Nigerians. We want to build a nation where everyone will be respected,” he said, stressing that any leader who wants Nigeria to succeed must take away his personal interest and that of his friends and groups.
That is the only way Nigeria can achieve and we are ready to do that, he assured.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party presidential candidate blamed unnamed government officials for the country’s failure to meet the crude oil sale quota at the international market.
Obi said:
Nigeria is not able to reach the foreign quota of oil sales in the international market because the people in government are enabling the oil theft going on in Nigeria.
Power Supply
Obi went further to name major areas his administration would address if elected. Obi promised to revive the sector within the first four years in power to address the poor state of the country’s power sector.
Within four years in office, we will be able to distribute 20,000 megawatts of electricity to Nigerians, or even more, he said.
Education
Obi stressed that if given a chance, his government would invest so much in Education, given its relationship with development.
Education is an investment because the more your people are educated, the more you will see development. Health, Education, and pulling people out of poverty will take top priority in my government, he said.