The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said the high poverty rate in the country is unacceptable considering the nation’s human and natural resources.
Obi stated this on Sunday while speaking at the Presidential Town Hall meeting organised by Arise News and other partners.
The former Governor of Anambra stated that the Federal Government should be held responsible for the high rate of poverty in the country and not the state governments.
Obi opined that insecurity is the major cause of poverty in the country and that the high poverty rate will not drop until the federal government address the security challenges facing the nation.
The LP flagbearer asserted that the difference between poor and wealthy nations is in education and health, promising to invest in the two sectors if elected President in 2023.
He said: “The poverty level is unacceptable. I will invest in education and health.
Governments at sub-national levels are not causing poverty. No, it is the responsibility of the federal government to address it. Security lies in the hands of the federal government. The major cause of poverty is insecurity which lies in the hands of the federal government.
If you have an enabling environment for people and investors to come, poverty will be reduced. For meaningful development to take place, I will resuscitate the Bank of Industry in Kaduna.
I want to secure and unite the country. I will ensure that the government in 2023 will be a government of national unity.
It is about saving the country. Whether people support you or not, it is about saving the country. Health, education, and pulling people out of poverty is my priority.”
Obi Speaks On Plan For Education
On education, the LP flagbearer said as Anambra governor, the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) did not go on strike because he provided the funds needed.
He said: “As governor of Anambra State, ASUU did not go on strike because we were funding the university.
The funding of the tertiary institution in Nigeria needs to be restructured. The government should clear the backlog and design a sustainable mechanism. I will build more primary healthcare centres, especially in the North, and increase funding for them.
For primary and secondary health care, what we will do is provide insurance. I use the health facilities here and I believe they are good. We will train more doctors and nurses because the number is too low. Health and education are important to human capital development.
If we invest in these areas, it will reduce poverty. We are going to pull people out of poverty, we are going to state the numbers and ensure people are out of poverty. China, India, and Vietnam faced these challenges in the past and got out of them. We will remove criminal subsidies and cut costs. That’s when we will have the implementable budget.”
