JONATHAN NOT PERFECT BUT BUHARI NOT AN OPTION WHAT JONATHAN MEANS FOR NIGERIA. Chimazuru Nnadi Aside the compelling consideration that he is the presidential candidate of my political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), my reasons for supporting President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015 are, in many ways, instructive. First, allow me to speak within the context of my reality and experience as a Nigerian youth. More than any president in the experienced, real, imagined or documented history of Nigeria, this is the first president, who has articulated and is executing a transformational blueprint for youth development, employment generation and empowerment. Take a critical look at the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWIN) initiative. Before President Jonathan, who cared about young Nigerian entrepreneurs? Before President. Jonathan, who thought about giving grants to young Nigerian business owners? Before President Jonathan, no president took the youth sector seriously. No president opened the door of engagement to the youths, let alone empowerment! None. Before President Jonathan, no president considered our young brothers and sisters, the Almajiris in Northern Nigeria as deserving of any care and attention. Nobody thought about taking them off the streets and building schools for them. Realising that a Northern Nigerian problem, is a Nigerian problem, President Jonathan is taking steps to build a future northern Nigeria, where development is futuristic, real and sustainable through educational advancement, this is commendable. It is to President Jonathan’s credit that an enabling environment had been created for the economic explosion of our creative industry from Nollywood to the music industry, to fashion and style! Through the SURE-P project, thousands of Nigerian youths have glowing testimonials on how their lives are being turned around with the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) and the Community Service, Women, Youths and Empowerment, (CSWYE). These are facts, not fiction? I will support a president, who has shown in many ways that he is a man who is committed to touching the lives of the common man. I grew up in a Nigeria where we watched the railway industry disappear before our very eyes. But today, it is to President Jonathan’s credit that not only are our trains back, our roads that were neglected for decades by previous administrations, military and democratic dispensation are now being fixed. So tell me, why won’t I vote for Jonathan? Is it in the area of agriculture that President Jonathan has not performed? This is the president that cleaned up the rot in the fertiliser procurement and distribution process. This is the president that is empowering local farmers using Information Communication Technology(ICT.), This is the president under which our cassava production is on a consistent increase. This is the president under whose leadership our rice self- sufficiency as a nation had grown from 50 per cent to over 80 per cent. It is no fluke that under President Jonathan, Nigeria overtook Egypt and South Africa and became the largest economy in Africa! One can go on and on. Dr Peter Obi I agree entirely with his position and state that the highest growth among quoted companies was recorded between 2011 and 2013. The values and profits of many companies within the same period doubled, example is Dangote Cement Plc. Manufacturing, which was declining, had a reverse and Nigeria moved from massive importation to self-sufficiency in cement within the period. The country also witnessed resuscitation of auto companies, such as Peugeot Assembly of Nigeria (PAN) and ANNAMCO. New ones also came up such as INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company, Nnewi and NISSAN and they are doing very well. All this created many jobs for our people. Multi billion dollars petrochemical industries are also being set up. While Dangote group are building their own ($9 Billion) at OK-LNG Free Trade Zone, between Ogun and Ondo states, President Goodluck Jonathan on the 14th of August 2014 performed the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of $1.5 Billion Dollars Methanol plant in Ibeano, Akwa Ibom State, by quantum Petrochemical Company Ltd, established by Mr. Jim Ovia. Many such projects are ongoing in the country. Let us note that the creation of Mortgage Refinancing Institution; to make long term funds available and increase liquidity by funding primary mortgage institutions is a job creation initiative of the Jonathan government. The boom in the Housing sector, with an estimated 6 direct jobs and 4 indirect jobs for every house built, has done a lot so far. Many of the 2400 businesses under YouWin 1 and 2 have created about 22,000 jobs, translating into 9 jobs per winner. The turnaround in the agricultural sector has reduced our import bill by 50% and the effects of the recent collapse in oil prices and devaluation of our currency would have been worse, but for the diversification achieved through agriculture and other sectors. Due to the reforms in the sugar industry sector, the investment in the sector has moved from $100 Million Dollars in 2011 to $3 .2 Billion Dollars. In Aviation, all of us can see the upswing in bilateral agreements, improved services and the on-going renovation and remodelling of our airports. There is also what I consider audacious building of 5 new terminals simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu. This is in response to the perceived needs of the travelling public and businesses. On completion, they will change the face of our airports, improve commerce and tourism. So will the roads some of which I mentioned before, like the Lagos-Ibadan, Apapa- Oshodi are at various stages of completion, while some like the Benin-Ore road have been completed. I should perhaps not say much on power, than just point out that the president has taken the most critical decision in that sector, by unbundling the generation and distribution of power in the country. We should all calmly watch out what will follow, going forward; as the revolution Nigeria witnessed when telephones were privatized will be replicated in the power sector. VOTE GOODLUCK JONATHAN and PRAY FOR NIGERIA. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 04:52:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015