PETER OBI’S SPEECH IN KADUNA

It is an honour to return to the City of Kaduna and to participate in the Arewa Joint Committee Interactive Session, and rub minds on some fundamental issues germane to the future of Nigeria.

I thank the leadership and stakeholders of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation for their gracious invitation.

I wish to preface my remarks by setting out our mission and vision. We are all Nigerians. I am a Nigerian running for the Nigerian Presidency to serve every Nigerian. I continue to insist on a show of respect for every candidate, ethnicity, religion and person.

The mission and vision of the incoming Obi-Datti Administration is to give full expression to our democracy by moving our country from consumption to production; we shall achieve this by giving primacy to implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our dear country today has become a shadow of itself. Indeed, there is evidence that Nigeria exhibits two known indices of a failed state; parlous economy and loss of territory and emergence of ungoverned spaces.

The purpose of politics and governance is to generate economic and social progress for the citizens in larger freedom. But the status quo is the reverse. This is more so here in the North, where poverty, unemployment and insecurity are the new normal.

The North has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. It has highest number of school kidnappings in the world. The North also has the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.

The vast agricultural lands of the north – the so-called food basket of the nation stand desolate and abandoned. This situation is painful and needs to be fixed. Great nations are built through visionary policies, programmes and projects, anchored on the people.

This was always the hope and wishes for Nigeria by our founding fathers. Sadly, things changed. Our leaders became selfish, myopic and stopped listening and caring for the common man. Bad leadership, divisive rhetoric, and impunity became the norm.

Nigerians have suffered; they have lost jobs, and lost their farms and herds and their trust in our leaders. That narrative must change.

The Nigerian people want solutions to the many problems confronting them. After all economic prosperity for all is an all important aspect of a successful leadership, there is hope. We know this for sure. A new Nigeria is Possible.

But we must return to dreams of our founding fathers to create an egalitarian society. The Nigeria we seek will be a United and Secure Nigeria that symbolizes the spirit, letters, and exhorting ethos of our national anthem – “one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity” where “peace and justice shall reign.” As we seek to come to power in May 2023, we are aware of the daunting array of domestic and external challenges confronting our dear nation, and we are fully prepared to lead from the front.

We are cognizant of the domestic policy challenges that have accumulated over time; and that the lack of adequate public policy responses has made them worse, with a devastating impact on national unity, social cohesion, public trust in government, and economic performance.

We have a grasp of prevailing challenges.

Nigeria’s needs and unmet needs are very huge. Yet hunger, insecurity, poverty and deprivation know no tribe, religion or gender.

With all sense of urgency, we will, pursue aggressively policies programmes and projects to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of all the sectors of the Nigerian economy.

For the North we will do the following:

• a) We will offer immediate and decisive long-lasting and permanent-effect resolution of all security challenges in the North;

-b) Ensure that farmers return to all farmlands for the 2023 farming Season. We will make Nigeria’s arable land in the North her new oil and gold;

-c) As part of our Marshall Plan for Education, we will foster Federal intervention in education at all levels in the North and partnership with State Governments and international organizations in order to improve access to affordable and quality education at all levels;

-d) Ensure very adequate representation in government, equitable appointments especially in the Security and Economic Sectors;

-e) Incentivize the resuscitation of the moribund cotton and textile industries; and full exploration of the cattle economy value chain, notably the $75b global hide and skin economy. Nigeria’s share of the global industry is envisaged to generate over $1bn by 2025;

and finally,

-f) We will ensure very generous deployment and allocation of economic and social projects and infrastructure in the North – with keen attention to Roads, Energy, Power, and Dams- and Solar energy from Sunlight.

In closing, let me say this on record. I have come in peace to develop, to secure, and to unite, and I will do so with every commitment to the growth of Nigeria, as one great and united country.

We shall pay as much attention to the development of the North as to the development of all other parts of the country; but with much greater emphasis on the development of the Agricultural resources.

The North remains where the biggest ad sustainable wealth of this great Nation lies.

If elected President, I shall govern with the fear of God and with all good conscience and intent. The Constitution and the rule of law will always prevail.

I thank you for your kind attention.
May Almighty God bless you all and bless Nigeria.

#PeterObi ??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiofuSGjm6Q

This is the destination: “Following the revenue losses, corruption and underperformance that have characterized the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the federal government is exploring privatization as a means of making rail transport service in Nigeria efficient.” And you can add federal universities to that list depending on how the 2023 election turns out. The public sector is fading fast. Yet, privatizing public assets like the national grid,  railways, airlines, etc will not save Nigeria.

Until the rule of law works, the path to ascension will not happen. There are many untouchables, and when you privatize, you hand over those assets to them. They will mismanage them knowing that you would be frustrated. Then, you come back and bail them out (NEPA/Disco)

Rule of law must be applied with the “blindness of law and justice” urgently in Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is not doing that and that is why nothing is working. Unfortunately, before his anointing with a second cap as president, many would have expected Buhari to deal with the demons.

But here we are: A few years ago, I took a train from Abuja to deliver a lecture in  the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna. Right there, people were cheating the government. Some people had bought all the available tickets in the train and were reselling at mark-ups. My question was this:  why can’t these fellows be arrested? Cheat sheet: they are agents for someone!

“The private sector is the engine of growth. Let someone else operate your lines efficiently,” Sambo said. “We cannot have an agency that is owner, regulator and operator at the same time.”

Nigerian railway service has been bedeviled by factors ranging from inefficient service to corruption under the NRC, and the government has appeared helpless in the face of it all. In 2020, shortly after the launch of Abuja-Kaduna rail line, Nigerian investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, uncovered high level ticket racketeering and other forms of malfeasance perpetrated by the officials of the NRC.

Though following the investigation, the government has moved to curtail corruption in the system by contracting a private firm as a concessionaire in a 10-year deal to digitize and manage train tickets, most of the challenges have remained.

Nigerian Government Explores Privatizing Its Railway Service

Following the revenue losses, corruption and underperformance that have characterized the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the federal government is exploring privatization as a means of making rail transport service in Nigeria efficient.

The move was announced by the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo in Abuja on Friday, during a courtesy visit by members of the NRC Governing Board. The minister stated that the government’s move to unbundle Nigerian rail transport service stems from the principle that the NRC cannot be the regulator and at the same time the operator.

“The private sector is the engine of growth. Let someone else operate your lines efficiently,” Sambo said. “We cannot have an agency that is owner, regulator and operator at the same time.”

Nigerian railway service has been bedeviled by factors ranging from inefficient service to corruption under the NRC, and the government has appeared helpless in the face of it all. In 2020, shortly after the launch of Abuja-Kaduna rail line, Nigerian investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, uncovered high level ticket racketeering and other forms of malfeasance perpetrated by the officials of the NRC.

Though following the investigation, the government has moved to curtail corruption in the system by contracting a private firm as a concessionaire in a 10-year deal to digitize and manage train tickets, most of the challenges have remained.

Recently, the NRC was forced to shut down train services due to insecurity and the high cost of diesel. The Chairman of the NRC Board, Engr. Ibrahim Alhassan Musa, had told the minister that they’re running at loss due to the high cost of diesel pushing the running cost of the trains so high.

The latest challenges are yet to be addressed by the government, scuttling Nigeria’s chance of repaying the loan taken from the Chinese Exim-bank to finance the railway project.

Sambo told the Board that the government is working to ensure the resumption of rail services. He explained that commercial train operations will resume after security measures were installed to prevent further terrorist attack on the rail infrastructure and train passengers.

“We are looking at how the rail lines can be safe by putting 24 hours surveillance and immediate response apparatus.

“The security measures will include short and long term plans, with the short term plans taking effect from November,” he said.

In March, scores of train passengers were killed and abducted on the Abuja-Kaduna route, sparking apathy for train trips across the country. Sambo said that in addition to the security measures that the government is putting in place, he had told Nigerians that rail services will resume operation only when those kidnapped in the Abuja-Kaduna train service have regained their freedom and are reunited with their families.

“I have told Nigerians that I will not run the services until every captive is released. We are lucky today, they are all released and reunited with their families. We are also lucky that all of them are back alive and were all given proper medical care,” he said.

As part of the government’s plan to unbundle train transport service, Sambo said that a National Transportation Policy that will articulate a seamless transportation system for the country will soon be launched. The minister said the Board should be ready for it by looking for alternative sources of cheaper and cleaner energy for the transport sector.

Taking train services off the hands of the Ngerian Railway Corporation has long been touted as key to sanitizing the system and creating revenue growth. But it is not clear when the government intends to make it happen.