The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria and former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has condemned the ruling All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party for dragging the country into its present deplorable state, saying both parties are not sensitive to the plight of the people.
Ezekwesili made this remark while speaking to our correspondent in Lagos.
The ACPN presidential candidate, who lamented that Nigeria was now known as the world’s poverty capital, said her government would operate an economy driven by the private sector, adding that an enabling environment for investors to establish would be provided if voted as president in the forthcoming elections.
Ezekwesili said she would run an all-inclusive government even as she warned that issues of poverty, if not taken seriously, could lead to destabilisation of the country.
“Today, we are known as the world capital of poverty; we overtook India, a country that is seven times our population by having 87 million Nigerians living in poverty. According to the analysis that produced that result, the number could grow and double as our population grows and doubles. One thing that we know in the world of development is that poverty could destabilise any country, even if the world of development did not tell us that theoretically, we could see from what happened in the regions where there is prolific poverty,” she said.
Speaking further, she inquired, “How many of you would want to see the replay of the Northeast in the rest of the regions in our country?” as she declared that “poverty is a destabiliser, therefore, we must tackle it with a sense of urgency.”
She said her position accounted for the reason why poverty eradication was the flagship programme of her party, promising that once elected president, the menace would be tackled headlong.
“That is why eradication of poverty is the flagship programme of our party. When we are elected into office, we will tackle poverty. We will build a prosperous economy,” she assured.
Meanwhile, Ezekwesili has kicked off her presidential campaign exercise on the streets of Lagos.
She recently visited Tejuoso Market, Yaba to sell her party’s programmes to traders and artisans, where she reiterated her resolve to the market community to operate a private sector-driven
economy.
“When you have an economy that the private sector is driving, there will be jobs. We always say that the fastest way to take people out of poverty is to give them jobs. When you have an economy driven by the private sector, many opportunities for jobs will be provided. And when the people who have these jobs are operating at a higher productivity level, their income will increase, and as their income increases, they are lifting themselves out of poverty,” she said.
