Obi to Empower North-East Youths in Trade and Agriculture if Elected President

The vast majority of young people in the Northeast who are unemployed, according to Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, are the biggest cause of insecurity in the area.

Obi stated this on Monday during a meeting with some North-East stakeholders in Abuja. He noted that thousands of the youth wake up every morning without access to food or housing.

He asserts that the North-East region can generate enough cash crops for export and arable land to feed the nation. Obi has promised that his administration will make that a reality if he wins next year’s presidential elections.

Insecurity, according to him, would vanish when youths who are currently idle start working in lawful industries like agriculture and trade, which will ensure that the nation shifts from consumption to production.

Obi said, “Youth unemployment is nearing 50 per cent, so you have millions of youth in their productive age doing nothing, not knowing where the next meal will come from. With that situation, you are going to have crises; the crisis of insecurity, the crisis of banditry, crisis of kidnapping.

“What I and Datti (Baba-Ahmed) are promising you is number one; that we have the best combination, the best experience to start tackling security issues and I will say this, hold us responsible. Let nobody tell you we cannot solve issue of insecurity in Nigeria. It can be stopped and done very quickly.

“We want to unite Nigeria, we want to see Nigerians being proud of their country again. We want to remove Nigeria from where it is today, from consumption to production, and when you do that, you start pulling people out of poverty,” he added.

With the level of insecurity in Nigeria, do you agree with the labour party presidential candidate that with the provision of employment, the menace will be curbed?