I WILL TRANSFORM THE NORTH, IT IS NIGERIA'S GREATEST ASSET- OBI

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HOTJIST NEWS

Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate for the Labour Party, says he wants to focus on developing northern Nigeria. He calls the region the country‘s most valuable resource.

During an interview on Television, Obi talked about how the north has a lot of economic potential, especially in farming.
He believes that if properly used, agriculture could bring in more money than oil.

He said, “The north is our greatest asset.
The large areas of land that are not yet used in the north are our future. We can make more money for the country through farming than from oil, and we need to start doing this right away.”

Obi also mentioned that he is willing to work with important political leaders from the north, like Nasir el-Rufai, who was the governor of Kaduna, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who was the governor of Kano.

“Our greatest asset is in the north. The vast uncultivated land in the north is our future. We can make more money as a country from agriculture than we make from oil, and we must begin to do that immediately,” he said.

Obi said he is open to working with key northern political figures, including Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano.

“I will work with them, but I can tell you that nobody can build what I intend to build in the north,” he added.

On security, the former governor of Anambra said addressing insecurity in the region requires tackling poverty and governance deficits.

“If we want to secure the north today, we need to start investing in critical areas of agriculture, pull people out of poverty, and invest in education and health. That is what we must do,” he said.

Obi said he is open to working with key northern political figures, including Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano.

“I will work with them, but I can tell you that nobody can build what I intend to build in the north,” he added.

On security, the former governor of Anambra said addressing insecurity in the region requires tackling poverty and governance deficits.

He added that leadership must be decisive in addressing insecurity, noting that the current situation is a result of years of governance failure.

“Insecurity we see today is caused by erosion of governance, erosion of values, and abandoning the youths. It is the cumulative effect of leadership failure over the years,” he said.

Obi said Nigeria must adopt a firmer stance in tackling security challenges.

“We have reached a stage where we have to be very decisive. It is no longer an issue of negotiation,” he said.

“No nation will lose about 10 of its senior officers and not declare war. I will declare war.”

The former governor also said he has been studying development models in other countries to better understand how to unlock the north’s potential.

“I have taken time to visit different countries to see first-hand what they are doing, and I see that future in the north,” he said.