Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate for the Labour Party disclosed that the dredging of Rivers Niger and Benue would be used for local usage, export and economic development in order to run a productive economy.
Peter Obi disclosed this on Monday during his speech at Chatham House in London.
He added that the productive economy would be driven by agriculture and export-oriented industrialization.
Development Pillar: Obi stated that harnessing Nigeria’s 70 million arable hectares of land and economic reforms that boost development in all geo-political zones would serve as a pillar for development in other sectors.
- “ With 70 million hectares of arable land, we will continue reforms to activate and harness production at different parts of the country and as a pillar for other sectorial development.
- “We will incentivize and invest in agro-industrial clusters, across all geo-political zones and take advantage of scale, particularly in Northern Nigeria.
Dredging the rivers: He added that dredging the Rivers Benue and Niger would also be important towards economic development and trade.
- “ We would dredge both Rivers Niger and Benue, and plant trees for local usage, export and revenue generation
- “ The key task is to dismantle structures restraining economy, for creating precondition for the dynamic pro-market economy.
He added he would employ an entrepreneurial mindset government to dismantle impediments to free trade and employ resources to reduce debt services
- “SMEs would be supported, further borrowing must be for productive activities” he added.
What you should know
Peter Obi in his manifesto said that Nigeria must first of all deal with its insecurity issues and restructure the polity to reflect effective legal and institutional reforms that entrench the rule of law, eliminates corruption and reduce the cost of governance.
In terms of his economic policies, Obi said the multiple exchange rate regimes only present a huge arbitrage opportunity for a few privileged persons, adding that the Ways and Means Advances to the FG have fueled inflation. He also cited that his fiscal and monetary policy will be properly coordinated by deploying conventional tools transparently instead of distorting markets to favour a few privileged persons.
To read Nairametrics comparison of the fiscal policies by candidates.
Peter Obi is the best and well composed candidate come 2023 presidential election.