Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has disclosed his reasons for visiting markets in Lagos. Peter Obi noted that his reason for going to the markets as part of his campaign is to drive his mission to move Nigeria from consumption to production.
Speaking during a one-on-one interview on Channels TV monitored by The News Chronicle, the former governor of Anambra State noted that he needed to visit the traders and business people to have a firsthand interaction with the people.
He said, “I need to interact with traders and business people, and visit industrialists, and agriculturalists to hear what their problems are and be able to promise them of better times to come.”
The Labour Party presidential candidate added that small-scale businesses are the largest employers of labour, thereby the need to carry them along and support them with the necessary support.
Giving statistics on world working economies, the former Anambra governor pointed out that countries like China, and Indonesia put so much emphasis on small-scale businesses which employ up to 90% of the labour workforce.
Berating the government for the unprecedented increase in the rate of unemployment, the businessman-turned-politician stated that Nigeria needs to look at where it is coming from and design it intends to reach.
“What governments in Nigeria have not done in the past is to look at where they are coming and where they are standing.
“For example, in 2012, unemployment was about 10 to 12 per cent but today, it has risen to about 33 per cent.
“Our monetary poverty was 55 million. 33 per cent today is about 95 million, and of course, multi-dimensional poverty has increased to 133 million,” he said.
The News Chronicle understands that the Labour Party Presidential Candidate has been visiting major markets in Lagos. Some of the markets he visited include Ladipo, Alaba and Ojo markets.
