—–says he will facilitate creation of another State in S/East
The People’s Trust (PT) presidential candidate in the forthcoming 2019 election, Mr.Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, has assured South Easterners that he would bring in measures that will heal the pains they felt and make Nigeria truly united.
Hashim was in Enugu to meet with various groups in the geo-political zone in preparation of his nationwide campaign. He noted that Nigeria was not what many had envisaged but promised that his presidency would surely bring unity and harmony among the various divides.
According to him, there was the need for equity in the Nigerian federation, observing that only the South East has five states, out of the six geopolitical zones in the country, when others have six or more states.
Hashim said if elected president, he would create a legislative framework within six months for the creation of one more state in the South East, so that the region would be in the same footing with the rest of the country.
“2019 elections is going to be an unusual election, in the sense that it is almost a referendum on the future of Nigeria, on its peace and stability, on its security, on its continuity and of course, most importantly, about the prosperity of Nigeria.“
“The South East zone is very crucial. The way we handle issues that affect us and are germane to the people would determine whether we will continue to live in unity and peace as an indivisible entity.
“And of course, there have been a lot of wounds in this part of Nigeria. People carry a lot of wounds. Just like a lot of communities in Nigeria and states also carry some kinds of wounds. But there is no other place in Nigeria where these wounds are so deep as we have it in the South East of Nigeria,” Hashim said.
The businessman said their ticket was committed to uniting Nigeria and reconciling the people so that they could face the task of national development without any handicap.
He noted that as long as any section in Nigeria feels they were conquered people, so would the difficult task of nation building becomes more challenging.
He said he came to the South East to tell the people that there is a presidential candidate who is irrevocably committed to healing the wounds of the region.
He equally assured that his administration would decentralize power in the country within six months by amending the exclusive and the concurrent legislative lists to ensure that states have greater role in resource mobilization and deployment. Apart from the South East, Hashim noted that Nigeria needs security urgently now that out of the 19 northern states, only six currently enjoy some level of stability.
“One of the reasons why killings go on endlessly in Nigeria is the fact that nobody is brought to book when they commit murder. That is why some say the lives of Nigerians have become so cheap. Under our presidency, the life of every Nigerian will count equal,” Hashim said.
He blamed the upheavals in the country on the parlous state of the economy, joblessness and hopelessness. He said under his government, they would expand the GDP to N4 trillion dollars in ten years by leveraging on infrastructure funds that are available globally. Hashim said he would make the ease of doing business a thing that everyone who intends to do business in Nigeria could take for granted.
“We will issue out the requisite SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to make licensing for business activities to be as rapid as possible.
“I understand what the South East people who are entrepreneurs want. They want an environment where trade and commerce can thrive and that is the Nigeria we are going to build.
“We will create jobs through our Nigeria new economic development plan which will create four million jobs annually. We have a blueprint we are going to use it,” he said.