2019: Kwankwaso declares for president, pledges paradigm shift

Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso on Wednesday in Abuja declared his intention to contest the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Addressing a large crowd of supporters at the Chida Hotel, venue of the event, Kwankwaso bemoaned what he described as collective disillusionment, disappointment and the pervasive air of hopelessness in our country.

Kwankwaso said, “I stand on my honour to offer a paradigm shift in leadership. There is no gainsaying that all is not well with the polity. It is also clear that the same mind-set that created and escalated the problems cannot be used in resolving the on-going crises in our nationhood and national development.

“I offer positive change. Change has again become inevitable. To live is to witness changes because change is an inseparable part of living. Come May 2019, the narrative of helplessness, buckpassing, division, poverty, insecurity and hopelessness must change for a new dawn of confidence in building a one well restructured Nigeria.

“I assure you that while I do not have the prophetic power to predict the future. We certainly have in us the ability to create the future that we want”.

He promised to offer a value based leadership anchored on national ethics, discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance and patriotism.

“I will provide a leadership where everybody is free and equal; where Nigerians see themselves as Nigerians first and as Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, ljaw, lbibio, Fulani, etc.

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“Where citizens are self-assured and self-assertive; where they are confident and competent, where they want to do what is right no matter whose ox is gored. I want to lead a Nigeria where people are educated and exposed beyond the confines of their tribe, religion, linguistic group or place of birth.

“l want to lead a Nigeria where citizens respect their leaders and leaders lead and forge a team to promote and protect the interest of all Nigerians.

“I want to lead a Nigeria where all are comfortable anywhere and on any positive issue can compete fairly with their peers without favour or discrimination. That is the kind of Nigeria we envision. We will abandon the failed relics of the past. We have all it takes to make Nigeria good and made for all”, Kwakwaso added.

The former Kano Governor decried what he described as the constant misuse of security apparatus and called for an immediate stop to it.

He harped on the need to strengthen all democratic institutions in the country and promised to create an all-inclusive mechanism for effective intelligence gathering that involves all stakeholders if elected.

The lawmaker observed that the nation’s security agencies were overstretched, ill equipped, unmotivated and deprived, saying they cannot give maximum performance under the circumstance.

He said, “We shall motivate all affected communities; the military and the police to put an end to all killings. There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for killings by Boko Haram insurgents, herdsmen, crop farmers, kidnappers, human traffickers and abductors. We will provide an atmosphere where there will be security, safety, serenity and sanity”.

The presidential aspirant decried what he called weak economic performance, due to tight economic policies and failed institutional supervision.

He identified tight monetary rates, exchange rate fluctuations, inflation and unemployment to be the dominant factors hindering the growth and survival of businesses in the country.

“Therefore, our focus shall be on sound economic policies that will ensure a new regime of exchange rate stability, low interest rates and reduction in the country’s rising burden of domestic and foreign loans.

“In the past three years, poverty and unemployment have become more visible, challenging Nigeria’s economic prosperity. Existing policies and economic programmes for alleviating the poverty incidence in the country have obviously failed.

“Our non-negotiable goal will therefore be the eradication of poverty through sustainable wealth creation and a coordinated and effective micro small and medium enterprises development.

“We shall promote policies that boost our foreign reserves and lower interest rate to ensure that the unsustainable debt treadmill profile is tamed.

“Locally, we shall diversify the economy through industrialisation and manufacturing, aggressive promotion of agribusiness; and develop the mining sector and entrepreneurship to make us self sufficient and export oriented. The oil and gas sector must cease to be a verifiable source of corruption and inefficiency”.

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