Nigeria’s domestic policy needs to be changed in order to address the issue of insecurity which is affecting the country’s economy.
The Presidential Candidate of Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Bola Tinubu stated this in his speech at Chatham House, United Kingdom where he spoke to Nigerians in diaspora.
Mr. Tinubu who spoke on various issues such as foreign policy, leadership, economy, and Nigeria’s position in Africa said he would “recalibrate” Nigeria’s domestic policy to address the many challenges affecting the country.
“At one level, this will mean the pursuit with renewed vigour of growth-promoting, employment-creating, and poverty-eradicating policies at home as outlined in my Renewed Hope 2023: Action Plan for a Better Nigeria that I recently released to the Nigerian public.
“The present administration has invested heavily in agriculture, providing loans and expanding the country’s total acreage of cultivated land. We will build on this, but our focus will be on using technology and expertise to accelerate growth and development by providing the critical infrastructure necessary to achieve the commodity transformations in the agriculture value chain.
“Roads, rail, access to ports, and storage infrastructure are what we require to radically transform the agriculture sector and increase its value to the nation.
“Providing these will be the areas of our focus so that the full potential of our agro economy can be achieved, and we can reap the benefits in jobs, improved economic opportunities and increased prosperity.
“Fixing the perennial riddle of energy supply is another priority,”Tinubu said.
The APC Presidential candidate emphasised the need for legal frameworks to be adjusted to encourage private sector investments in power and the economy.
Mr. Tinubu said he would adjust Nigeria’s foreign policy to be advantageous to domestic priorities.
“Amidst the changes taking place in global order, the primary duty of leadership in Nigeria – and, I dare say, all of Africa – is how within a vision of national development that is transformative and a strategy of national security that is human-centred, foreign policy is crafted, shared to fit and feed national priorities of rebirth and accelerated progress,” he said.
He reiterated his commitment to upholding democratic government and processes both in Nigeria and Africa.
Mr. Tinubu also touched on the importance of Africans making more efforts at regional and continental integration adding that a government led by him would be fully committed to Africa Union 2063 agenda.
After his presentation some members of the audience asked him questions on how he intends to address some challenges in the areas of insecurity, oil theft, education and economy.
Mr. Tinubu who said he believed in team work assigned the Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai to speak on how a Tinibu-led administration would address insecurity and asked the Director of Strategic Communication of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Aleke, to respond to the question on oil theft.
The APC Presidential Candidate also delegated a former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, Wale Edun, to respond to a question on how a Tinibu government would boost the economy if elected.
Lateefah Ibrahim
