Apparently
worried by the free fall of crude oil price in international market, the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari on
Friday promised that he would steer Nigeria out of the attendant economic
hardship by diversifying the economy into agriculture and minning if electded
as president on February 14, 2015.
He
made the pledge at a presidential campaign rally at Etche Primary School Aba,
the commercial city of Abia State, saying that Nigeria had great potentials in
agriculture and solid mineral deposits which if well harnessed, would enable the
country absorb any shock occasioned by dwindling oil revenue.
According
to him, by paying more attention to the non-oil sector of the economy, his
administration would not only put the economy on a firmer ground, but also
tackle the lingering problem of unemployment
“The
main concern of the APC is to make sure that there are no idle capable
able-bodied person roaming the streets and becoming touts instead of becoming a
productive citizen. We want to encourage the financial institutions to empower
the small scale industrialists by giving soft credits," he said.
The
former military head of state also said that he would create jobs in the
federal ministries, assuring that "in spite of falling crude oil prices,
the APC will look and employ qualified, competent, patriotic Nigerians to
manage our ministries so that competent and qualified Nigerians will get jobs
and opportunity to perform.”
Buhari,
who has been singing the matra of fighting corruption told his cheering
supporters that his administration was going to be accountable to the people
and challenged Nigerians to hold the APC accountable if they failed to deliver
on their promises.
While
commending the ingenuity of the Aba people, he specifically promised residents
of the commercial city and the South-east zone in general that he would give
them constant supply of electricity as well as provide financial assistance for
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) to enable the entrepreneurs grow their
businesses and contribute to the growth of the national economy.
The
APC presidential candidate indeed came with bag of promises to tackle the
myriads of problems facing South-east, assuring that his administration would
tackle ecological problems in the zone, fix the bad roads, noting that the zone
deserved the best infrastructure given their contributions to national
development and the African economy in general.
Tags
Politics