Peter Obi at Oxford, says ‘Nigeria arable land new oil and Gold’
….Promises to make Nigeria investment Haven
The Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, was in Oxford University, United Kingdom, on Friday, where he declared Nigeria’s arable land as new oil and gold for the country.
Speaking on ‘Trends and Prospects of Nigeria’s Economy: Broader implications for Africa’s Development’, the LP Presidential candidate said that Nigeria, with over 217 million people, stood attractive for investors but the country yearns for correct leadership to maximize her potentials. He said that it’s to achieve this that pushed him into the Presidential race for the 2023 election.
Said he, “Investors’ interest is increasingly motivated by other opportunities that we offer, notably in agribusiness (Nigeria and the 52 other African nations are home to 65% of the world’s arable land), in infrastructure and manufacturing, in technology, and the production of consumer goods.
“Nigeria is poised to lead African countries as we leverage more private funds to meet our continent’s infrastructure financing needs. Those needs are estimated to be between $68 billion and $108 billion annually.”
He noted that Nigeria is a challenged country but hopes that robust leadership arising from Presidential election next year will go a long way in addressing a lot of issues in our socio-political and economic lives.
He continued, “Nigeria is also a challenged country. In February 2023 She will hold her next presidential elections; in doing that she will like the U.K. canvass for electoral legitimacy, that will hopefully translate to governance legitimacy.
“We are involved in that process. Our primary goal is to enhance government performance legitimacy and reform the machinery of government.
Mr. Obi said that UK’s long interest and support for Africa should transcend the promotion of democracy, and include a broad range of economic-related issues, in particular support for Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
The LP Presidential ticket holder said that “Nigeria does have the potential to be a key exporter of agricultural produce to the world because the country is richly endowed with God-given resources—has over 84 million hectares of arable land.
“To put this in geographical context, Nigeria’s arable land is larger than the entire land mass of Turkey. And barely 40% of this arable land is cultivated today. Nigeria’s arable land is her new oil and gold.
“The Obi-Datti administration, from its inception, will continue to encourage investment in infrastructure—energy, transport, irrigation, and telecoms—to grow these and other sectors.
“We are eager to quickly close the infrastructure gap between now and 2030. That is the Nigeria and the Africa that we want by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals target year. That is the Africa we want by our own African Union 2063 framework.”
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He also spoke on the vexed issue of corruption in the country and charged the global community to expect sledgehammer approach on it if he and His Vice Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmad are elected into office “On the issue of corruption and investment protection, it is no secret that corruption has been endemic and one of the biggest obstacles to our economic progress in Nigeria.
“We are not proud of this, and my administration, when we come in, will tackle this challenge head on. We will have zero tolerance for corruption.”
Mr. Obi also urged international community to show more than passing interests in developing issues in Nigeria’s democracy and support Nigeria’s efforts to promote economic growth and social inclusion.
Finally, Mr. Obi said under his watch if elected, he would enforce the legal framework protecting foreign investors and their indigenous partners as this is the only way to tamper capital flight.
