Good day Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Arguably, Nigeria is a Nation supposedly positioned to lead the rest of Africa and by extension be listed amongst the top World economies if we had the privilege to have quality minds in leadership positions in Nigeria. Nigeria is graduating into the shame of Africa as we allowed clueless Political Buccaneers and Economic Vandals took over the mantle of leadership of Nigeria over the years .
Nigeria has had leaders who are not in sync with how developed economies across the world are run as they do not prioritize those components that effectuate economic growth and development. Nations rise and fall on the Altar of Leadership. Just like the head of a family, the head of a community, the head or mayor of a city and the head of a Nation could be taken as the good sample of what each of the above entities mentioned represents, so is the head or President of Nigeria is judged as the good sample of Nigerians.
It’s therefore incongruous and implausible at once for anyone to think that the job of preparing credible candidates to be elected as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Security Officer of Nigeria be left in the hands of Political jobbers to determine the Destiny of over 200 Million Nigerians. It’s worthy of note that across the Globe, the perception Non-Africans have about Nigeria/Nigerians has effect on every African notwithstanding whether he or she is an African, African-British or African-American. In every five Africans is a Nigerian, therefore it becomes the Interest of every African to see that the most credible Nigerian Presidential candidate with very high moral integrity quotient assumes the position of leadership as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 2023, if Africa must be perceived to be ready to attain both political and economic independence in the real sense of independence. Nigeria remains the big brother of Africa.
Africans and African descents must rally round to see that Nigerians quest for enthroning a candidate with no history of corruption or graft is actualized. A candidate that has zero tolerance for corruption while the people hold him in trust of their common patrimony as a Public officer is who Nigerians will elect come February 2023.
Nigeria Can Not Be The Shame Of Africa:
Nigeria must fix the Power Sector:
In harnessing the population size of over 200 Million Nigerians, Nigeria must first fix the Power sector that will power the people to drive the economic growth of the Nation.
If at a maximum of 5000 Megawatts (5 Million Kilowatts) of Power which Nigeria in recent time hardly generates, Nigeria will be generating only 0.025% of the world bank recommendation of 1 kilowatt of Power per capita for Nations. This also means only 0.025% of 200 Million Nigerians have access to regular Power supply, while 97% of South Africa 60 Million population have access to Power as they generate over 58,000 megawatts (58 Million Kilowatts) of power which powers her people to grow their economy to a GDP per capita of $7080 while Nigeria is on $2360 of GDP per capita. What does this tells us? As small as South Africa is, compared to Nigerian population size, South Africa is three times higher than Nigeria in economic growth and consequently has a three times higher standard of living of its people than that of Nigeria. GDP per Capita is also the measure for fixing minimum wages in Nations of the world and that explains why you have quite a number of Nigerians in South Africa searching for greener pastures.
South Africa is able to achieve such growth because of its level of industrialization occasioned by their capacity to generate the megawatts-hour of Electricity required to power their industries. This also explains why South Africa is far more industrialized than Nigeria. South African manufacturers are powered by their National Grid unlike Nigeria where the Manufacturers have to generate their own Electricity at very high cost of energy to power their industries. Its worthy of note also that Nigerian Manufacturers are excluded from the Nigerian “Energy or Power need” plan of the Government. The Nigerian Government plans to generate 45,000 Megawatts by 2030 when the Nation can barely generate 4000 megawatts. The Nigerian Government should be talking 200,000 Megawatts or at minimum 100,000 megawatts to be fully industrialized for the teeming young population of Nigeria to be gainful employed. Even at that, Nigeria will be generating 50% of its actual energy need going by the World Bodies recommendation of 1 Kilowatt per capita for Nations. Nigeria Government should privatize the power sector to the real players of Power generation/distribution in the world and see if Nigerians will ever know darkness in their lives again. The Federal Government should confine themselves to regulation only under the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Even the Transmission Company of Nigeria should be privatized as Nigerian Government does not have the anointing to manage Assets effectively. There’s no real player in Power sector in the world that doesn’t have the capacity to generate, transmit and distribute power to consumers so why is the Nigerian Government holding Nigerians in perpetual darkness?
Education
Next will be for the Nigerian Government to educate her citizens enough to effectuate the desired growth and development of the Nation. Nigeria cannot be productive if a good number of her population are not educated in the real sense of education and as such are unemployable and consequently not able to contribute to the GDP of the Nation.
Sequel to the above and many more ills in Nigeria including the decimated health sector and lack of other critical infrastructures occasioned by inept and corrupt governance overtime, the need to enthrone a Leader with high integrity quotient and with a history of utilizing public funds for public interest and who is equipped with datas on how to spur economic growth and development, into the office of the President of Nigeria becomes sacrosanct to Nigerians.
Therefore, we the well meaning Nigerians; Naija-optimists have decided to throw our weights behind a credible Presidential candidate to ensure Nigeria does not continue to happen to our children and the ones yet unborn in the manner it’s been happening to us for years now.
Never again will Nigeria be described as the Poverty Capital of the world with the Human and Natural resources that abound in Nigeria.
Nigeria must depart from a consuming Nation to a Producing Nation. The Arable land for Agricultural activities in Nigeria shall be Nigeria’s new boom like we had in the Oil and Gas era as Nigeria will be able to feed herself and export to the rest of the World to earn more than Nigeria is currently earning. The enormous Mineral Resources in Nigeria shall be another Nigerian source for industrialization, the Oil and Gas in the Niger Delta shall be raw material for Petrochemical plants that will spring up like mushroom in the Niger Delta to produce over 200 petrochemicals as obtainable in saner climes like Iran with their National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) unlike the six polymer resins produced by Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Ltd a foreign company that bought over the NNPC’s Eleme Petrochemical Company Ltd due to the neglect of the same Eleme plant by the Federal Government/NNPC. The Nigerian NNPC has long assumed the drain-pipe of the Nigerian economy as it’s riddled with monumental corruption and its sad. Never again will Nigeria descend so low that she imports what she produces like the Aviation fuel which is a product of the same Natural Gas Liquids which are flayed in the country’s various Oil production fields due to lack of storages and processing facilities. Nigeria Aviation industry is at the verge of collapse due to high cost of Aviation fuel sold to the Aviation operators by marketers of NNPC but this is the same Aircraft Turbine Kerosine (ATK) that’s cracked using small Natural Gas Liquids processing facilities offshores used to power Bristow Helicopters which convey Oil and Gas workers to and fro offshore operations. It’s this same Natural Gas Liquids (condensate) we have in excess in our production field that the Gas Turbine Electricity Generating Companies like the Delta Power Station Ughelli and other Gas Power Stations in Nigeria are using to power their Turbines, yet Nigeria is a Nation in darkness. We have both underground and surface Water sources everywhere in Nigeria to generate clean and reliable Hydropower Renewable energy, yet the Government prides herself in ruling over a Dark Nation.
Our Refineries in Nigeria that were commissioned between 1979 and 1980 except the older one that was built in 1965 are said to be moribund but Digboi Refinery, the World’s oldest Refinery in the Northeast of India was commissioned in 1901 and still running till date. I have written articles and said a number of times, Refineries are made of hardened hardwares designed to withstand high pressure and temperature so the stories about Nigerian refineries going moribund just after 40 years of their operations is as a result of gross ineptitude and corruption in governance by the Federal Government of Nigeria and its NNPC. Nigerian Government had spent billions of dollars in the purported maintenance of its Refineries yet no single refinery is working today. There’s nothing wrong with those Refineries that can’t be fixed and bring them to their optimal production capacity, Refinery Units that are prone to breakdown are available in the market yet we are importing Petroleum products into the country. The plant that produces the best quality of Carbon Black in the world use to be that of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, a subsidiary of NNPC. Carbon Black accounts for any product that’s Black in colour, it’s application is wide. Tyre consists of between 30% and 40% of Carbon Black yet the Nigerian Government/NNPC abandoned that Warri Carbon Black plant and it was part of the reason Michelin and Dunlop tyre manufacturing companies shutdown their plants in Port harcourt and Lagos Nigeria respectively as they had resorted to importing even the grades that NNPC Carbon Black plant in Warri ought to be producing to help cushion the effect of their capital flight and pressure on the Naira, coupled with the Government counterproductive policy of reducing the import duty on tyres from 40% to 10% causing the local Michelin and Dunlop tyres then to face unhealthy competition with imported substandard tyres in the country. The shutdown of the two tyre plants in Nigeria caused over 20,000 Nigerians who were employed directly and indirectly to lose their jobs and source of livelihood.
Come 2023 and beyond the dream of having a one-youth-one-job economy in Nigeria shall be made manifest in our lifetime under Peter Obi Government. Yes Nigerians are unapologetically working with the man who understands how economies of the developed Nations are run and he’s humble enough to learn that which he has no knowledge about as learning is a continual process for those with good Leadership qualities.
Yours truly is the National Co-convener of Peter Obi Support Group (POSG) and I am ardently OBIDIENT. I enjoin not only Nigerians but Africans wherever they are in the World to support the Peter Obi/ Yusuf Ahmed Datti candidacy; the duo are the only Economic catholicons amongst the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates in Nigeria. Peter Obi is prudent, credible, detribalized and well informed enough to pull Nigeria from her mockery state of poverty and launch her into the very orbit of economic independence through the introduction of sound economic policies. Peter Obi represents HIM – Humility Integrity and Modesty in governance. Let us follow HIM, Let’s support Peter Obi to coast to victory in the forthcoming Presidential election in 2023.
