Not my turn but turn of Nigerians to take back their country — Peter Obi

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has said that a new Nigeria where true democracy will be in place is possible.

Obi who made the declaration Friday during a town hall meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, said he was not in the presidential race because it was his turn but because “it is the turn of Nigerians to take back their country” from the few holding the country by the jugular.

He promised to reset the country and do things differently if voted into power at the February 25 presidential poll.

“We are going to build a new Nigeria. Yes, a new Nigeria is possible and that’s why I’m in the race.

I will build a new Nigeria where we shall all be proud of the green passport. I will build a new Nigeria where we shall move from consumption to production”, he said.

The former Anambra State Governor regretted that the two major political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC; and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had both, supervised the deterioration of Nigeria. He urged Nigerians to reject both parties at the forthcoming polls and vote in Labour Party for a better country.

According to him, “APC has given us insecurity and hunger, fuel scarcity and ASUU strike. No state in Nigeria is safe again. If given the opportunity, I will restructure the entire security architecture of Nigeria to provide security for all citizens.

“We have voted for the umbrella but we didn’t get any protection. We voted for the broom but it has swept us into poverty and hardship. All we got from APC and PDP are hunger and suffering.

“Now, it’s time to vote for the father, mother and children (LP logo). What we need now is the family so that we can recover from our fallen state.”

Obi promised not to discriminate against any part of Nigeria, vowing that under his watch, tribalism and injustice will no longer be a norm.

He predicted landslide victory for himself based on his competence and national appeal, saying he was under a mandate to give hope to Nigerian youths.

“I’m not going to win because I’m from South East but because I’m competent and ready to build a new Nigeria. I’m prepared to lead Nigeria out of poverty to greatness. I have done it before in Anambra, I will replicate the feat in the entire country if you give me a chance”, he said.

The Labour Party presidential hopeful promised to end incessant strikes by university staff, saying that under his watch Nigeria will be restructured to work for her citizens. Obi also promised to transform Aba and make it a renowned industrial hub in Africa.

He said, “I visited Aba in the morning and I saw that we have over 60,000 shoemakers in Aba. Industrial activities going on in Aba will be properly harnessed. Give me two years and Aba and Port Harcourt will join together. I’m not going to change the name but both towns will be so developed that they will become one City, and people won’t know the difference between them again.”

Obi also promised to tap into the vast arable land in the North to make Nigeria the highest food-exporting country in Africa. “The biggest asset in Nigeria is the uncultivated land in the North yet we can’t feed ourselves. The Netherlands has a smaller landmass with a lesser human population but it is an agricultural giant”, Obi noted adding with visionary and competent leadership in place, Nigeria did not need to be borrowing around.