The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, has canvassed for economic prosperity as antidote to northern Nigeria’s current stability and security challenges facing the country.
Atiku gave the address Saturday at the Arewa House, Kaduna, during an interactive session with presidential candidates at the Arewa Joint Committee of Arewa Consultative Forum, which included Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Northern Elders Forum and Arewa Research and Development Project & Jamiyyar Matan Arewa.
While unveiling a policy document which encapsulates his vision for a united, prosperous society in which all citizens can realize their full potentials in a secure and decent environment, the former Vice-President acknowledged the organizers of the program and mentioned that such gathering provided a platform for him to set out his policy priorities and strategies for dealing with Nigeria’s complex challenges.
Atiku canvassed for all those who aspire to govern Nigeria to be given the same platform to unveil their policy priorities and programmes.
According to him, “as we go to the polls in February 2023, there can be no better opportunity for the public to interrogate our ideas and strategies to deal with a plethora of local and national issues from the mundane to the most complex- particularly those issues that have important weight on the future of northern Nigeria,” and presented himself for interrogation.
Atiku cautioned that Northern Nigeria’s current social and economic challenges call for sober reflection, not partisan politicking and irrespective of our political differences, it should be our collective desire to see Northern Nigeria fulfill her potentials in the not-so-distant future. He warned that we must build consensus on one goal: “Northern Nigeria must have its prosperity restored and must re-emerge as a vibrant, prosperous, and self-reliant economy, operating in a peaceful, secure, and disciplined environment”.
Atiku stated that anything other than this goal cannot be an option and emphasized that he shares the dream of our leader and foremost nationalist, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region while announcing his Six-Year Development Plan for the region, noted the need for Northern Nigeria to ‘catch up quickly with even the most economically and socially developed countries in Africa’.
The former Vice-President mentioned that Sir Ahmadu Bello had a vision to transform the region into the largest economy and the hub of investment & commercial activity in the Western Sudan; a region whose development would be anchored on its resources and the resourcefulness of its people.
He enjoined our businessmen to embrace modern industrial pursuits and revive that spirit of adventurous entrepreneurship which made medieval, pre-colonial Northern Nigeria great.
He also envisioned a Northern Nigeria that would attract investors, merchants, and scholars from all corners of the globe.
Atiku stated that Northern Nigeria can realize beyond the dreams of its founding father as it requires strong commitment, initiatives, and a discernable shift from the mistakes of the past, to lift Northern Nigeria from the abyss to the top of a honey-coated mountain.
He said that the region needs to articulate and implement a transformation agenda with specific policies and programs to address the challenges of underdevelopment.
The PDP Presidential candidate therefore unveiled his Development Agenda which seeks the political and economic transformation of Nigeria into a united, secure, and prosperous country in which all citizens can live a happy, healthy, and productive life.
He mentioned that Economic prosperity is an integral part of his Agenda that has five elements: to restore Nigeria’s UNITY, strengthen NATIONAL SECURITY, Build a dynamic ECONOMY for PROSPERITY, improve EDUCATION DELIVERY AND RE-STRUCTURE the polity.
Atiku mentioned that economic prosperity is the thread that runs through the other critical elements of the agenda.
The former Vice-President promised to re-position and strengthen the education system to cater for the poor and citizens with special needs and will aggressively address challenges of Inter-regional disparities in development having understood the widespread feelings of marginalization and neglect that have led an increasing number of Nigerians to openly challenge their allegiance to the country’s corporate existence through violent agitations, insurgency, and misguided demands for ethno-regional autonomy
Atiku said that despite the myriads of challenges confronting the nation, he remained optimist with the belief that the north shall rise again with its people happier, healthier, and wealthier, knowing that the region possesses all it takes to engineer a takeoff to a higher level of development with a huge population of 120 million people which would provide enormous market opportunities and serve as a potential reservoir of skills; which has a large agricultural sector can could provide tremendous opportunities for primary processing and for local resource-based industrialization; with tons of untapped mineral- resource deposits. He mentioned that the northern Nigeria Paradox: potentially great, but with all the features of an under-developed state but canvassed for all to work together to unravel this paradox and endeavor to end it.
The former number two citizen mentioned that there are two critical success factors.
“First, the north needs to elect leaders who have a vision and a positive notion of development; leaders who understand the complexities of the development process and who, therefore, are willing to articulate & implement a transformation agenda with specific policies and programmes to address these challenges of underdevelopment,” he said.
He mentioned that the second critical success factor is hinged on our ability to forge a united front in fighting the forces of disunity and under-development.
“Nigeria’s unity is being threatened by internal conflicts, insurgency, and religious intolerance and warned that we must restore northern Nigeria’s unity through tolerance, social justice as well as cooperation and consensus amongst our heterogeneous people,” he stressed.
Atiku stated that Nigeria needs unity that is transparently and collectively negotiated and agreed upon by highlighting that this is the only way to douse the divisive tension and neutralize the negative elements of identity politics, which create a morbid environment of “we” against “them” with its attendant impetus for a desperate struggle to control leadership.
