APA presidential candidate, Ayeni, pledges to end insurgency

THE presidential candidate of the African People’s Alliance (APA), Alhaji Musa Ayeni, yesterday promised to end insurgency in Nigeria by ensuring justice and equitable distribution of resources to all ethnic groups in Nigeria.

  Ayeni, who hinged the menace of Boko Haram insurgency and militancy in the Niger Delta on injustice and unfair treatment to some ethnic groups in Nigeria, promised to end the menace if elected in the March 28 this year presidential poll.

  The presidential candidate, a former deputy governor in the old Ondo State, promised that he would address the shortcomings in the 6-3-3-4 system of education, which he said, had become hindrance to the sector.

  Lamenting that unstable policy has been the bane of agricultural sector, Ayeni promised to set up National Agricultural Development Agency in all the 774 local councils of the country to harness agricultural output and block all leakages in that sector for more revenue earnings.

  Speaking in Ado-Ekiti on his plans for the country, Ayeni said the militancy in the Niger Delta came into being because the area was not being fairly treated despite contributing about 92 per cent of resources to the federation revenues.

  Ayeni, who promised to address all the injustices to all sections of the country, including northeastern part that was being pummelled by Boko Haram insurgency to restore the confidence for Nigeria, said: “It is no longer news that the Niger Delta has been the bird that lays the golden egg, which is the oil, but are they getting the fair share of the resources allocation and capital projects in return?

  “When the economy is badly run, what become the resultant effects are extremism, militancy and all sort of criminalities. But we are going to redress all the injustices to every section of this country so that we can have confidence in one indissoluble Nigeria.”

  Promising to tackle the decadence in the education sector, Ayeni said he would address the ills by making the primary school education free contrary to what is being obtainable now where poor parents had to struggle to send their wards to schools.

  He said: “What we have now is seeing poor parents paying for the students at the primary schools. I will address this by ensuring that every need of a pupil is provided for by the government so that we can have well academically-groomed children that would proceed to secondary schools.

  “And before you can proceed to Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), you have to seat for a central examination where only those that are good will emerge while those that cannot make it will move to a technical college where they can get skills because I will make it a fancy of all.”

  Speaking further on the need to explore into agricultural sector to diversify the economy to non-oil sector, Ayeni said the measure would help in widening the taxation base of the government and increase the revenues of the government.

  He, however, said he agreed with the fact that the poor economy was as a result of global economic forces, but said he expected the Federal Government to have been proactive enough to buffer the economy in a manner that would cushion the effects on the populace.