Peter Obi,
presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says addressing insecurity
will tackle inflation in the country.
Speaking in a BBC interview aired
on Tuesday, Obi said Nigeria’s top priority today is security, adding that it’s
an issue that requires urgent attention.
He said the country has been hit by high food inflation,
which can be tackled by improving security.
In its consumer price index (CPI) report for August 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said food inflation had risen to 23.12 percent, representing a 2.82 percent increase when compared to 20.30 percent recorded in August 2021.
The inflation rate is the highest since October 2005.
“The number one priority today in Nigeria is the issue of
security because it has become an essential issue for Nigeria,” Obi said.
“You can’t talk about being a country unless you are secure,
unless your citizens are secure. So, it’s an issue that must be dealt with
decisively.
“It’s also something
that if you deal with today, you can deal with inflation, because the worst
part of inflation we are dealing with is food inflation. So, if you secure the
country, your farmers will go back, they will produce more and the food
inflation will come down.
“We have to immediately review and restructure the entire
security architecture, make it responsive and responsible. Responsive is that
they will deal with issues as quickly as possible. Responsible is that somebody
is in charge and if he’s not doing it, don’t wait, the person will go.”
Obi said the vast land in the northern region can boost food
security as well as change the economy of the country.
“Look at the vast land we have in the north, that is the
most important physical asset of the country today. If you cultivate all that
vast land, we will feed ourselves, we will export, that vast land can change
Nigeria.”
‘SECURE, UNITE,
PRODUCE’
Obi added that the country is in dire straits because of
leadership failure experienced over the years.
The LP flagbearer said he is ready to build a structure that
will secure, unite and bring about production-centred leadership in the
country.
“What brought us to where we are today is the cumulative effect
of leadership failure over the years by the same people who are in office
today,” he said.
“We are talking about
the structure that has kept us where we are, the structure that has produced
the highest number of people in poverty in any country.
“The structure that has produced the highest number of
out-of-school children, the structure that has made this country one of the
most corrupt countries in the world, the structure that has made it one of the
most insecure places in the world, the structure that has brought highest youth
unemployment in the world, the structure that has made drug prevalence in
Nigeria the highest, the structure that has brought disunity to Nigeria, that
is the structure we want to remove.
“We want to bring a structure that will secure, unite and
bring about production-centred leadership in Nigeria, where we will start
pulling people out of poverty, children will be in school, where we will start
ensuring that people get jobs when they leave school by supporting micro, small
enterprises.
“A structure that will start governing by the rule of law, a
structure that will fight corruption, this is the structure we need now.”
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