Focusing on micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, according to the former governor of Anambra State, can help lift people out of poverty.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, has pledged that if elected president in the upcoming election on February 25, Nigeria will be restructured and its citizens will be lifted out of poverty.
He made this comment on Monday during The 2023 Verdict on Channels Television.
Restructuring is not something I am going to implement by executive order, according to Obi. We will negotiate, follow the legal procedures while doing so, but I can promise you that we need to restructure. Everyone has a contribution to making the nation run well; moreover, those who are opposed to restructuring may even gain more.
The former governor of Anambra State declared that he would help lift people out of poverty by boosting micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, emphasising that this sector is the most productive in any economy.
“Micro, small, and medium firms are the most productive sector in any economy I have studied. You can travel and take a study in different nations; even first-world nations don’t talk much about third-world nations. I will always choose the nations with large populations, such as China, India, and Indonesia, as examples of modern societies.
“This sector is the main driver of the economies of all of them. Because they will advance our goals, I think you should study and pay attention to this area, and my personal commitment is to help people escape poverty in a measurable way, added Obi.
He claims that successive Nigerian governments have consistently failed to assess the situation before taking office and how things are progressing after they have taken office.
“In 2012, our unemployment rate was between 10 and 12 percent; today, it is 33 to 35 percent. In 2012, 55 million people lived in poverty; today, that number is 95 million, or approximately forty-something percent. Of course, 133 million people presently live in multifaceted poverty.
Therefore, he advised, “These are the things you need to say if in 2023 a new government comes in. We need to draw a line, this is where we stand, and start implementing those things you think that can start reversing the situation and reducing things like poverty, unemployment, and inflation in an organised measurable way.”
In addition, the candidate for the Labour Party pledged to unite the nation if he were to win the presidential election on February 25. He added that this required giving everyone a sense of belonging.
When questioned about his opinion on rivals who make fun of him for lacking a structure to win the election, Obi said that his structure is the All-Powerful God and the people of Nigeria.
“When I first started, they said it was only four people tweeting in a room; now they say I don’t have the structure, I don’t have the number, and the number will be decided by the voters. My main support system, I declared, is the Almighty God, who is followed by the Nigerian people, to whom I am pleading with to create a new Nigeria—a new Nigeria is feasible.
