Osinbajo
he All Progressives Congress (APC) vice presidential candidate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday debunked speculations that he is contesting the coming election as a proxy for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as “nonsense and incredible.”
Fielding questions at an interactive session tagged “Conversation for Change” with youths in Lagos,,Prof Osinbajo said that there was no way in the world that he would enter into any deal with any one, especially when it comes to turning the nation around. He described the opportunity given to him “as a God-given opportunity to serve the people and turn things around.”
He said it is incredible that some Nigerians could be bandying such baseless speculations, despite the serious issues confronting the country, such as high exchange rate, unemployment and insecurity.
On whether an APC government would compensate families affected by the Boko Haram onslaught, Prof. Osinbajo reiterated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration two days earlier at the Chatham House, London, that the security of lives and property is a priority for any government and that when a government fails in that regard, it must make itself responsible by compensating those families who die on account of its negligence to carry out its duties.
On APC’s plan for education, the former Lagos State Attorney General said the party has great plans to revive the education sector and put it back on track. He said this will commence with a first phase that will focus on free tertiary education, with attention on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
He said even the school curriculum will have to be reviewed right through to reading technologies and approach, as the current methods are already outdated.
THe also said emphasis would be paid to free education and training of teachers to move the sector to this desired level.
As a corollary, he said technology is advancing at a pace that no sane nation can afford to ignore and said “we’ve got to start very early with technology and start very early with the schools, so that young people will learn a lot about technology.”
To this end, he said the APC government will set up technology villages to facilitate technology development. He cited the case of Estonia, a tiny European country that has today become a technological super power on account of its commitment to technology.
On whether the APC government would provide a soft-landing option for the present corrupt officials in power, who seem hell-bent on denying the party an obvious victory at the polls, Prof. Osinbajo again quoted Gen. Buhari, saying that the APC will not use the law enforcement agencies to witch-hunt. He said due processes will be respected in all government dealings and activities.
He also said the important condition is that the high standard of the law will be maintained and that “You cannot be chasing after everyone. But people must be accountable for public positions. “
On the party’s plan for the Nigerian child, Osinbajo said the country has passed the Child Rights Act law, which covers all the interests and problems associated with the Nigerian child and said that some states, including Lagos and Cross Rivers have also passed the law. He, however said the problem lies more with the enforcement of the law, especially with 110 million people living in extreme poverty of N150 per day.
To this end, he said the first phase of an APC government’s solution will be the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme, where the government hopes to take 25 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty by giving them between N5,000 and N7,000 and taking care of their primary education and health issues.
He cited Brazil as one of the countries of the world, where such programmes have worked.
He also said that the government will as much as possible uphold the laws on violence against women, even as he remarked that the problem in this case again is enforcement, as most cases here are often domestic, which often go unreported.
Regarding the APC government’s plan on consumer protection rights, Osinbajo said the government will have to activate the regulatory bodies to perform their duties, while enjoining the citizens to always bring to the notice of government any case of wrong-doing or injustice to Nigerians
No comments:
Post a Comment