Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has blamed insecurity in the country on a lack of focused leadership and reformed security governance.
Speaking at Chatham House in London on Monday, the former governor of Anambra State proposed a reform of the security structure in the country where the federal, state and local governments would have police structures.
Obi also highlighted the need for institutions to be able to provide strong leadership and coordination capabilities, and engage in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to mutually reinforce values.
He said: “This constitutes the first and most important thrust of my government priorities without which the rest cannot be achieved. To secure Nigeria, end banditry and insurgency, and unite our beloved nation to manage our diversity so that no one is left behind.
“The growing insecurity in Nigeria is not because the enemy is formidable; it is rather due to a lack of focused leadership, an ineffective security governance structure, and poor coordination from the center. All of these need to be addressed by first projecting strong leadership signals that allow both state and non-state actors to mobilize around a single vision.
“Then by pursuing a strong reform of the security governance structure with a strong coordination mechanism that ensures that all levels of government (federal, state and local (with a three-tiered police structure)) are aligned with strong collaboration with partners from both the private sector and development groups to provide the necessary services and deliver results for all Nigerians.
“Once this is done, it is also important to have a single, clear, coherent and constant communication system so that the government is accountable and the citizens participate in the development process”.
Obi also lamented the enormous debt accumulated by the Federal Government for consumption that he promised to restructure.
“Nigeria has borrowed for consumption. Nigeria in 2016 had a GDP per capita of $2,550. We owed about 15 billion naira. Today, with the ways and means of the Central Bank of Nigeria, we owe about 75 trillion naira. So, we’ve increased that debt by about 400%, but our per capita is 2,000. That means the money we borrowed was wasted. So that’s what I’m going to renew.
“We will restructure our debt as it is today. We will restructure it in the long term, to be able to pay it off. And as I said here, no more consumer debt. We will continue to borrow, people will see it, we will be transparent, it will be for investment, and that is what we intend to do.
“Countries have been in this situation before; We are not in a situation where other countries have not been before. It is a question of leadership and we are going to be able to solve it, ”she added.
During his speech, the LP presidential hopeful unveiled his plans for economic growth, noting that if elected, his administration will seek an agricultural revolution throughout the country, especially in the northern part.
Obi also said he was honored that the youth trusted him to lead their fight to transform Nigeria’s politics and restart the engine of the country’s economic growth and social stability.
“We are honored to be trusted, especially by the youth, to lead this democratic evolution and are deeply committed to doing so with sincerity, responsibility and an insatiable love and desire for a better Nigeria. We are simply the symbol of the fight of the young Nigerians to reverse this ugly trend that continues to lead them to social anemia, despair and rejection of their country,” he added.
