The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, has said the South-eastern zone of the country is strategic to the survival of Nigeria’s economy and that industrial activity must be encouraged in the area.
Buhari, who was represented by the Deputy Director of APC Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at a town hall meeting with industrialists and the organised private sector from Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States in Onitsha on Monday night, said he had observed that Nigeria’s industrial revolution would begin in the South-east, noting that between 1982 and 1992, many factories took off from the zone.
He, however, expressed regret that many of them also went into extinction because of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and high exchange rates which he said affected their capacity to produce.
“In this country today, we can’t produce anything again because of importation and we know that the South-east has the capacity to produce and save Nigeria from the burden of importation.
“The South-east is strategic and Nigeria has to survive and industrial activity must be encouraged in the zone. But there are constraints like poor power supply and high interest rates,” he said
He said he had seen the second Niger Bridge in the Onitsha, and observed that no activity was going on there.
He said he had seen the second Niger Bridge in the Onitsha, and observed that no activity was going on there.
The bridge, he further said, would be constructed by his administration if he wins and that it would be toll free, adding that the money for its execution would be sourced from savings from corruption and wastes.
He added that Nigeria was going down because it budgeted 91 percent for recurrent expenditure and only nine percent for capital expenditure annually, wondering how the country with less than two million in its federal civil service would survive at that rate.
Buhari said he would revive the Enugu coal corporation and the Oji River Power plant if elected president on Saturday, and therefore urged the Igbos “not to put all their eggs in one basket.”
He explained that: “Nigeria can’t exist without the Igbo nation. Give the APC a second thought, because we believe that power must rotate and we can’t be part of any conspiracy where a Nigerian of Igbo extraction would not sit in Aso Rock because Nigeria has to function and we have gone beyond disintegration.”
Pledging to fix inadequate infrastructure in the region, Buhari said the APC-led federal administration would link every part of South-east with railway network to lift goods from one part of the country to another.
Earlier, the chairman of the occasion and former Presidential Liaison Officer for Old Anambra State in the Second Republic, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, explained that the dialogue was non-partisan and concerns the economy of the South-east region of Nigeria.
The APC, he said, had come because they understood the importance of the zone and that the Igbos responded because they believe in dialogue.
He urged Buhari and the APC leadership to show wisdom and ensure that Ndigbo are represented in the top echelon of his administration if he elected.
Ikedife also enjoined Buhari to guarantee Nigeria of an equitable society where impunity and injustice do not thrive in the course of his administering the country if he wins.
The Igbos and APC, he added share the same vision of a greater Nigeria and that the Igbos are eager to build an alliance with other geo-political zones of the country.
The APC senator for Anambra Central senatorial district, Dr. Chris Ngige, explained that Buhari’s absence was necessitated by a call to attend an emergency meeting with ECOWAS Heads of State in Abuja that night after he had held a similar meeting with the organised private sector from Abia and Imo States in Owerri earlier in the afternoon.
Buhari said he would revive the Enugu coal corporation and the Oji River Power plant if elected president on Saturday, and therefore urged the Igbos “not to put all their eggs in one basket.”
He explained that: “Nigeria can’t exist without the Igbo nation. Give the APC a second thought, because we believe that power must rotate and we can’t be part of any conspiracy where a Nigerian of Igbo extraction would not sit in Aso Rock because Nigeria has to function and we have gone beyond disintegration.”
Pledging to fix inadequate infrastructure in the region, Buhari said the APC-led federal administration would link every part of South-east with railway network to lift goods from one part of the country to another.
Earlier, the chairman of the occasion and former Presidential Liaison Officer for Old Anambra State in the Second Republic, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, explained that the dialogue was non-partisan and concerns the economy of the South-east region of Nigeria.
The APC, he said, had come because they understood the importance of the zone and that the Igbos responded because they believe in dialogue.
He urged Buhari and the APC leadership to show wisdom and ensure that Ndigbo are represented in the top echelon of his administration if he elected.
Ikedife also enjoined Buhari to guarantee Nigeria of an equitable society where impunity and injustice do not thrive in the course of his administering the country if he wins.
The Igbos and APC, he added share the same vision of a greater Nigeria and that the Igbos are eager to build an alliance with other geo-political zones of the country.
The APC senator for Anambra Central senatorial district, Dr. Chris Ngige, explained that Buhari’s absence was necessitated by a call to attend an emergency meeting with ECOWAS Heads of State in Abuja that night after he had held a similar meeting with the organised private sector from Abia and Imo States in Owerri earlier in the afternoon.
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