Nigerians must be independent of govt to boost economy, says SDP presidential candidate

The presidential aspirant of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said that Nigerians must vote for a government that would invest in Nigerians to be independent of the government to drive the economy.

He said the total dependence of Nigerians on the government was partly responsible for the level of perverse poverty among the population, who need an enabling environment to grow their businesses and make good decisions for the right leadership.

Adewole who spoke with Tribune Online in an exclusive interview maintained that the only path to economic prosperity for Nigerians was to have a government that invests in education and power to drive creativity and entrepreneurial skills in Nigerians.

According to him, when people totally rely on the government for big contracts, without which they cannot do their businesses, the government would be stressed and poverty would be pervasive.

The SDP presidential candidate said such a deliberate act by the past government to impoverish the population to become tools for easy manipulations to vote in bad leaders in every election cycle must be broken come 2023.

He pointed out that, if the government had opened up the economy for businesses to grow and be able to award big contracts to the population, it would drive prosperity in the population who could take independent decisions in every election cycle.

He maintained that Nigerians must elect the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that would invest in opportunities for the people to harness and independently grow, thereby making governance competitive for those who seek elective office as only the best would be voted to power.

“You have to make the people productive because the government has a lot of money. But the role of government money is to be used to create work for people so that people can be independent of the government.

“If you are making people dependent on the government, then the government will be finding it hard to get productivity out of the people because people will be idle for four years.

“On election day, you go and give them money to vote for you. So that deliberate policy is too regular to be a mistake.

“That government comes in year-in-year-out, they don’t create employment for people. They make the people worse than they have met them. They closed down the schools, and let doctors workers and teachers go on strike. They are not bothered, trying to kill the will of the people.

“And let the government be the only source of everything. Almost every miracle that happens to people is related to how they met somebody in government to get a contract or give them a gift.

“There is no story being told about people setting up industries, getting jobs on their own, and we’ve killed our agriculture. So it is only the government that can give you a lot of authority to import rice, all of that nonsense has to come to an end.

“Those are things that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is leading in, those are the problems we need to solve. These are the problems we wanted to solve in 1993, that is the June 1993 annulment of June 12,” he told Tribune Online.

Adewole said the 2023 election was going to be a watershed in the Nigerian political history, noting that 2023 presents the Nigerian electorate with the opportunity to elect persons who would run a responsible government that would set a new trajectory of governance and prosperity for the country.

He added that the government was not about setting up structures for career politicians who have no sense of responsibility to the people.

Instead, governance should be art by people who are responsible to the people and committed to impact on the people by implementing progressive social contracts for development and quit the stage at the end of their term and not bent on imposing their cronies.

“When you go there as a public servant, you serve and come out. You guys want to go in there, become wealthy, have wealthy people around you who will now become the godfathers and start to sponsor other people for every position. No!

“So you go to election in Ekiti, the same person gives money there to buy votes. You go to an election in Kano, and the same person sends money there.

“The SDP does not want to do that, we don’t want to create a warlord democracy. You want honest people, those who would come out, with even no money in their pockets.

“They come out as public servants and contest an election and then when they go in they serve, they come out and that’s what we need to do.

“We need to give competence into the work. In which case, when I am setting up my cabinet. I am not setting up future politicians.

“Not people’s point of entry into politics. I am setting up people who want to come and serve and go. You will see that it’s possible to serve the country and they go.

“That was why Okonjo Iweala was not going to become governor of Delta State after becoming Minister of Finance. So you need that kind of quality Abiola wanted to bring into the country.

“Many people you see today who are serving the US government, Abiola had identified them as Nigerians who could serve Nigeria. That is the approach, you bring talent into politics.

“You cannot bring people who are thugs and ballot snatchers or people who are going to help me to win the election or raise money.

“That is what happened to President Buhari. He came and filled up the whole place with people for gratitude to those who helped him to come to power and Nigerians are wailing,” SDP presidential candidate stated

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