20th March, 2015
Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to stabilise the exchange rate to boost the nation’s economy if voted into power.
Speaking at a Town Hall meeting with artisans and tradesmen held at the Lagos Television Ground in Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on Thursday, Buhari said the devaluation of the naira had greatly affected business activities in the country.
“We will stabilise the exchange rate so that entrepreneurs will have cheaper operating cost. This will afford them the opportunity to purchase raw material for their business easily. We will ensure that they have the ability to build factory, employ youths and others. This is common sense.
“If the entrepreneurs cannot create employment we will remain in trouble because 60 percent of the country’s population is youth and 50 percent of them are unemployed. This is one of the dangers that we are facing at the moment,” he said.
He also promised that an APC government at the centre would provide basic support to the businesses, especially with regards to power supply which constitutes 40 to 50 per cent of the operating cost, adding that his administration would be committed to power supply towards reducing the burden on small businesses.
Buhari stated that regular power supply means that the average artisan would save about N1,500 a day spent on purchase of fuel and that it would amount to about N45,000 when calculated in a month and about N540,000 per annum, reiterating that life would be more meaningful for the average artisan if he can spend the N540,000 that he spends yearly on fuel purchase on other necessities of life for him and his family.
The retired Army General also gave an assurance that his administration, if elected into office, would improve the security of the country and ensure that every self employed person can carry on his or her business in a safe and secure environment.
The APC candidate said a closer look at the state of the Nigerian economy in the last 16 years at the federal level will reveal clearly the dangers that have been done to the well being of the economy by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Buhari stated that an APC government would assist the artisans and tradesmen to overcome the problem of access to loans by guaranteeing such loans and ensuring that it is accessed at very low interest rates to encourage the sustenance of such businesses.
According to him, the three main problems confronting Nigeria today were security, economy and the corruption, adding that his government would ensure security of life and property and also ensure that the armed forces are well trained and equipped.
National leader, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu lamented the frustrations of small businesses under the present Federal Government, saying that at a particular moment in the history of every nation, there comes a time when the need arises for very intelligent and experienced people to steer the ship of state, adding that this is one of such periods for Nigeria.
Tinubu also said Buhari once served as a Minister for Petroleum Resources and built new refineries, created jobs and did not resort to importation of finished crude products and that the present Federal Government is anti-small scale business men and women because the same Federal Government that is not providing power to the artisans and tradesmen is also asking them to pay for electricity not used.
He urged the people to vote massively for all candidates of the APC starting with General Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential elections on March 28 and be ready to make use of the technology that INEC intends to introduce for screening voters.
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, said the next election is going to be “a clean hand election” in terms of the artisans and tradesmen who are mechanics, plumbers, carpenters who often get their hands dirtied with different items in the course of practising their vocation.
He reiterated that the 2015 elections is about the artisans and tradesmen ensuring that they wash their hands with soap and water before going to the polling booth as part of the requirements for rescuing Nigeria.
Fashola said if today, State Governments could not collect statutory federal allocations from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and companies were laying off staff, especially the big ones where over 5,000 workers had been laid off, it speaks volume of the kind of government that is operating at the centre.