President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated campaign manual for his re-election in 2019 with a warning to Nigerians that it would be risky to return power to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was ousted in 2015 after 16 years in office.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the main opposition to Buhari, would also launch his policy document on Monday.
The 76-year-old president, gunning for the second term in office, also appealed to politicians to be peaceful and decent in their campaigns and avoid any act capable of setting the nation ablaze.
He spoke at the launch of the Campaign Manual/Next Level Document organised by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Sunday night.
“Our choices will shape us – our economic security and our future prosperity.’’
According to him, Nigeria, more than ever before, needs a stable and people-focused government to move the agenda for the country forward.
The president said the call had become necessary because of the commencement of campaigns by political parties across the country.
“I’m not unmindful that the National Assembly and the Presidential campaign starts today, I will employ candidates to go about the campaigns peacefully and decently.
“We have no other country, let us not set it ablaze because of politics,’’ he said.
He observed that the next four years would be quite significant as the country was faced with a choice to keep building a new Nigeria- making a break from its tainted past which favoured an opportunistic few.
The president said: “We are committed to deepening the work we started this first time such that the nation’s assets and resources continue to be organised and utilised to do good for the majority of our people.
The president, therefore, called on all Nigerians to Join his administration on “this journey to the NEXT LEVEL of a prosperous, strong and stable Nigeria!’’
He explained that in the next four years he would ensure job creation across the nation’s socio-economic sectors that would witness 15 millions new jobs.
The President said this would be achieved through an enlargement of the N-Power programme, investing in technology and creative jobs to agriculture and providing access to credits for entrepreneurs.
According to him, the APC-led administration intends to exploit the comparative advantage of the geo-political zones and different states by developing six Industrial Parks and 109 Special Production and Processing Centres (SPPCs) across each senatorial district.
He said the objective was to move the country away from oil dependence.
“The march away from a mono-economy must continue with our focus on an industrialisation plan coming to fore.
“With specific plans underway to exploit the comparative advantage of the geo-political zones and different states by developing 6 Industrial Parks and 109 Special Production and Processing Centres (SPPCs) across each senatorial district, our incremental move away from oil dependence is assured.
“In addition, our development of the Special Economic Zones will quickly concretise our Made in Nigeria for Export (MINE) plan,’’ he added.
According to him, the APC-led administration will sustain food production and value addition, saying the mechanisation policy for agriculture will make tractors and processors easily accessible and available for farmers across Nigeria.
He said the administration would also continue a wide scale skilling policy, prioritising technology to reach the demography of young people within the productive sector on a massive scale even as “the government create jobs and growth within our economy.
“We believe that our people who are still in poverty have a direct way out and up through our expanded National Social Investments Programme.
“We believe we can implement the painstaking and comprehensive work we have done to bring an end to the perennial conflict between farmers and herders- a conflict which is heightened by a struggle for land, water and pasture and the effects of climate change and every now and then, opportunistic and cynical manipulation by political actors.
“We are implementing a blend of measures that ensures that justice, order, modernisation and new economic paradigms emerge.’’
The president also announced that his administration had put in place measures to overhaul the nation’s education sector.
“Perhaps our biggest ambition yet is the overhaul of our education sector. Every child counts – and simply, whatever it takes to prepare our teachers, curriculum and classrooms to attain the right educational goals that grow our country, will be done.
“We will remodel 10,000 schools every year and retrain our teachers to impart science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics using coding, animation, robotics to re-interpret our curriculum,’’ President Buhari revealed.
On the ongoing fight against corruption, the president said: “We know that, to succeed, moral integrity and conscience must continue to form the dominant character of our nation and its leadership.
“Corruption is an existential threat to Nigeria. Despite the gains we have made in closing the gates, we know that there is still much ground to cover to stop systemic corruption.
“We are committed to deepening the work we started this first time such that the nation’s assets and resources continue to be organised and utilised to do good for the majority of our people.’’
In his remarks, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha said the event provided an opportunity to showcase the success story of President Buhari’s administration.
He said: “We have 90 days to elect our next leaders and I believe Nigerians will make the right choice of returning our leaders to power,” he said.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would kick-start his campaign on Monday.
The 72-year-old Abubakar, a two-time Vice President of Nigeria and current presidential candidate of PDP said he would launch his policy document.
His Presidential Campaign Organisation said the PDP’s presidential candidate will present his vision for Nigeria and his action plan to achieve it as encapsulated in his policy document.
The organisation said that the decision of Abubakar to kick-start his presidential campaign with the launch of his policy document is to reiterate his commitment to run an issue-based campaign.
“The intention is to take our policy directly to Nigerians and to register the belief of Abubakar that it will take the collective efforts of every Nigerian to rebuild the country.
“That is why we want Nigerians to access the policy directly and ultimately take ownership of it,”the statement said.
It added that the campaign of the organisation would offer a simple message: “united, the people of Nigeria can begin anew, creating a prosperous and secure future and a better life for every Nigerian.”
Abubakar who returned to PDP from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in March this year, said that Nigeria was dead and would work to revive it.
