Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says he will dialogue with agitators if he’s elected president in 2023.
Speaking in an interview published on Thursday by Daily Trust, Obi said his approach to tackling insecurity will be different, adding that he will govern by listening to the people.
He said the northern part of the country has vast land for farming, noting that his administration if elected, will invest in agriculture.
“I have said it times without number, Nigeria does not have more agitation than Brazil. If you want I will show you countries that have had agitations in the past, whether it is Brazil, Mexico,” Obi said.
“In our south-east, it is a simple thing, I will dialogue, I will discuss, it is a democracy, and in a democracy, you govern by consensus. If anybody says he is not happy, you call him and you sit him down and discuss with him.
“People agitate in my house, my wife, my children. If you say to me you have lived with your wife all through and you people have never quarrelled, then you are not married. You disagree and settle it – that is agitation.
“I will govern by listening to the people. I will visit every state in Nigeria. We have a huge land in the north that if properly invested and cultivated, will change Nigeria. The more I pull people out of poverty, the more I reduce agitation, the more I reduce criminality.
“What you are seeing in Nigeria today is a cumulative effect of leadership failure over the years and all I want to do is to be seen to be that man who changed this country called Nigeria.
“I don’t like the way people were treated during the EndSARS, I will apologise. We must have a country of healing and love, that is what leadership in a democracy is.
“I am going to meet people in the north, I am going to meet people everywhere and say come, let’s be a family. I want Nigerians to be proud that they are Nigerians. What we have now is we have a country called Nigeria but we don’t have Nigerians. I want to bring back Nigerians.”