Presidential aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday, said Nigeria must be self-reliant to overcome its economic challenges.

Noting that the country has potential and resources to overcome her economic challenges, he said: “There is hardly any mineral of importance that we do not have in commercial quantities in the country.”

Onu made the remark while addressing delegates in Benin City, the Edo State capital, ahead of the ruling APC presidential primary election.

The former governor of Abia State also pledged to make use of the vast resources the country is blessed with to create wealth, jobs, tackle poverty and ensure prosperity for the nation, if elected president.

He was represented by Edo State coordinator of Ogbonnaya Onu Campaign Organisation, Alhaji Saliu Momoh, who quoted Onu as saying that he is passionate about the growth and development of the country, hence his running for the presidency.

He said: “Let there be anything that can make any Nigerian lose hope about the future of Nigeria. The Almighty God that created us gave our dear nation everything she needs to be a leader in the world.

“Working together, we will make use of a knowledge economy to make Nigeria truly great. We should never forget that Nigeria has passed through very challenging difficulties and yet, the Almighty God preserved us and kept us together.”

“Nigeria must be a producer nation, instead of remaining a consumer nation. We must produce many of the things we need and use as a people. We have all it takes to achieve this. It is by doing this that we can create wealth and enough jobs for our people, fight and defeat poverty, create wealth and prosperity for our nation.”