The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has indicated that his Presidency if elected in 2023 will prioritize education to serve technical and industry relevance; alignment with local comparative advantages.
He said he will also factor endowments; modern skills proficiency, critical thinking, ethical citizenship values, global competitiveness, and talent export.
A statement from the Obi/Datti campaign office quoted Obi to have spoken in his remarks at the weekend to the Queen’s College Lagos old girls Association who marked the 95th anniversary of their alma mater.
His plans also to “prioritize a structured approach to developing the digital skills of our young population to give them the competitive advantage to receive offshore jobs in the new gig economy, while also improving the efficiency and productivity level of our economy”
“The Obi-Datti administration, when elected President of Nigeria, will sustain national development. Our governance principles, priority projects and programmes shall be anchored on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Obi noted that Experience shows that inclusiveness is an essential element in effective public policy making pointing out that he intends to stop the under representation of critical components of the society in decision making such as women, youth, and the vulnerable in our midsts.
According to the LP presidential candidate, if elected, “From its inception, we will encourage investment in infrastructure, energy, transport, irrigation, and telecoms and education with gender mainstreaming and social inclusion in education, enterprise and politics will always be a priority.
Obi also expressed his Commitment to the well being of the Girl Child and Women pointing out that this will be fully reflected in his broad and gender-specific policies.
“We will run a government where the rich and the poor will be equitably and fairly represented.
He explained further that his administration will ensure Citizens’ interests will take pre-eminence over political interests so that the existing trust gap between the government and the governed will be reduced to the barest minimum.
On female representations in his government he said just like when he was governor of Anambra State, his administration achieved close to a 60-40 gender balance in appointive and elective positions his Presidency if elected “intend to progressively aim for between 35-40%, with aggressive gender mainstreaming action plan and rigid benchmarks”
According to him, education is central to his government policy thrust saying he will pursue a Marshal plan-type programme on education that incorporates compulsory technical and vocational skills, sports, entrepreneurship, programming, and digital skills from primary to the secondary level.
‘Inevitably, we will improve access to finance, MSMEs, youths and women, to significantly reduce unemployment and insecurity.
According to the former Anambra state Governor “We will introduce a mandatory “No Child left Behind” educational policy, mindful that Nigeria’s inadequate investment in the social sectors – health, education, and housing has resulted in the current dismal social and demographic trends reflected in low life expectancy, high maternal mortality rate, large number of out-of- school children, huge unmet housing needs as well high youth unemployment.
He also plans to reset and reboot Nigeria in all ramifications –leadership and governance, security of life and properties, economic and political freedom and this according to the candidate “will entail the promotion of intangible assets that underpin democracy; namely, good governance, rule of law, security of lives and properties and robust institutions. There will be visible and measurable indices of governance the people can experience.