A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant and Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, has promised to assemble the best team of economists to address the nation’s economic problems, if elected president.
Tambuwal at separate consultative meetings with the PDP Caucuses in the Senate and House of Representatives and PDP Board of Trustees in Abuja, also said he would make Nigeria a productive country.
“It is a collective work. I am not an economist. I cannot pretend, but I can assure you that I will assemble some of the best, the best of the best economists in this country that will be part of the economic team to address economic situation in Nigeria.
“Importantly, we must address the issue of production. If we cannot produce then you are out.
“So we must address issue of production, not only to produce for ourselves but to conserve foreign exchange and provide and create more jobs for people.
“So, on the issue of economy we have to have them segmented from the micro to macro. So I believe that is something that we can actually all do together,” he said.
On Security, Tambuwal said that if elected he would address the root causes of insecurity including hunger, poverty and the lack of education.
Tambuwal said that he would also adopt community approach, community police, recruit more troops and technology to address the menaces that plague the country over time.
“It is very important that we go back to community and ensure that we have leaders of communities and local governments or states on board on resolving issues of politics.
“By the grace of God I will adopt a community approach to solving our security problems and deploy technology. As I said, it is not rocket science.
“When you have technology, you can detect these things early enough, and you can take your action on time,” Tambuwal said.
The Sokoto State governor, who decried the state of disunity in the country, said that PDP needed a dynamic person who had what it takes to unite the country to emerge as the standard flag bearer of PDP.
“I believe that in this country, we have the right people. What we require is that leadership that can identify those people and charge them with the responsibility of doing and discharging those responsibilities that they are competent enough to handle and it’s not rocket science.”
Tambuwal said that under his watch no segment of the country would be neglected in terms of appointive positions by the government.
He said that he had demonstrated that when he was the speaker of the House of Representatives where virtually all parts of this country were adequately looked after in terms of assignments and in terms of paying attention to the issues that concerned our people.
“ I believe in this country, that we have all it takes to do it. All we require is to identify the right leadership, irrespective of whether the leadership is going to come from.
“When you are looking for a physician to treat you, you don’t necessarily go for your tribesman or your townsman. You look for the best if you can really find the best because you need that care and attention. The situation where we are in Nigeria today is like a state of emergency.
“When you are in a state of emergency you require that everything must be marshalled to rescue the situation and that is the situation of Nigeria in every material particular.
“ I am coming to you as my brothers and sisters, with my records, with my content, with my capacity.
“I know that I understand this country. I have a clear understanding of issues and not only that, I can identify individuals that I can work with as a team that will unite this country.
“After uniting the country, we will work towards if it is structure, we can sit down and address the issues,” Tambuwal said.
He also stressed the need for devolution of power, saying devolution is key.
“Nigeria must devolve to survive. The centre is overloaded and we really need to go back to the local government and state where the people are and give them more responsibilities, more resources, and that is how we are going to do it.
“I believe that these are things that are achievable if you have a president that understand the issues, not only a president with an experience in governance, but a president with experience in democratic governance,” Tambuwal said.
The Sokoto State governor said that he had the experience and clear understanding about dynamic issues in the country, including constitution amendment.
“I have a clear understanding of not only these issues, I have the right temperament.
“Where we are going in Nigeria, we need a leader that can be accommodating. We need a leader that can listen, we need a leader that can unite this country. (NAN)