The presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, has said his reason for going to the markets as part of his campaign, was his emphasis to return Nigeria from a consumption to a production country, as functional markets remain the roots.
Obi, who disclosed this during a one-on-one interview on Channels TV on Monday night, said: “My reason for going to markets is simple.
“I have always said we need to be able to go back from consumption to production, you can’t talk about doing that without roots to the functional markets.
“I need to interact with traders and business people, and visit industrialists, agriculturalists hearing what is their problem and be able to promise them of better times to come.”
On his agenda for small scale businesses should he be elected president, Obi said: “The greatest employer of labour, the greatest productive area in any economy is Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. From China to India and Indonesia, they are all driven by the same economy.”
Giving statistics on world working economies, the LP presidential candidate noted that in a country like Indonesia, almost over 90 per cent of the businesses were in this sector in terms of employment.
”They are creating over 70 per cent of the employment, in China, over 60 per cent, a similar situation in Vietnam, these are countries that are doing very well today and very productive and export-geared.
“I believe you need to study and listen to this session because they will propel what we want to achieve. For me, the commitment to pull people out of poverty is immeasurable.
“What governments in Nigeria have not done in the past is to look at where they are coming and where they are standing.
“For example, in 2012, unemployment was about 10 to 12 per cent but today, it has risen to about 33 per cent.
“Our monetary poverty was 55 million. 33 per cent today is about 95 million, and, of course, multi-dimensional poverty has increased to 133 million. These are things that need to be addressed by a new government,” the former Anambra State governor said.
He added that it was the physical support of the government that made it possible for the micro-small businesses mentioned to be able to have faith again.
Obi said: “We will ensure first that we deal with the issue of security of life and property by securing the country. That way, we will be able to let our farmers return to farming and increase agricultural production.”