Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP has promised to address unemployment, insecurity, and brain-drain in the health sector if elected.
Kwankwaso made the pledge during a Presidential Debate organized by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) in collaboration with the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja on Sunday
Kwankwaso said that if elected, his administration would adopt two approaches, including direct employment of more people into public service i.e the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) well as the security agencies.
Kwankwaso said that government would also create the enabling environment for affordable and reliable electricity, and transportation infrastructure for Nigerians to establish businesses for young men and women to get jobs.
Asked how he would finance the employment of more personnel into the civil service, Kwankwaso said that Nigerian has the needed resources, adding that all was needed was to block all leakages and wastes in the system.
“In 1999 when I was elected as governor of Kano and sworn in we had piles of debts, within four years I was able to settle them.
“In those four years, we did not borrow any kobo. We did so much in terms of projects or programs in the education, agriculture, and health sectors.
“We electrified over 400 towns and villages. In fact, when we left government, even when I went back, eight years after I could only do very little because most, if not all the towns and the villages in Kano have been electrified,” Kwankwaso said.
He said that when he was governor of Kano State, he did not just provide infrastructure for the state but also paid the debt owed by the state.
“I can tell you that in our government, eight years that I was the governor, there was no security vote. I wasn’t taking one Naira for anything.
“All areas of wastage from the family to friends, to this and that, we stopped it. Projects and programs, as an engineer myself, I was going through every document to ensure value for money.”
On agriculture, Kwankwaso said that his administration would support the farmers who are about 70 percent of the population.
He said that his administration would also tackle the insecurity that had not allowed farmers to go to their farms.
He said that his government would give the needed support to the military, the way it was done when he was the minister of defense.
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“I can tell you that when I was minister, we did all that we could to our military men and women in terms of their welfare, equipment, training, retraining, and so on and so forth.
“We provided the military from Second Lieutenant to the highest four-star general, vehicles, at a subsidized price, and other ranks, motorcycles.”
On health, Kwankwaso said he believed health insurance was very important and the government must consider it as the way out.
“We should be empowered to ensure that people, as many as possible in this country benefit from modern healthcare systems.
“We’re going to do it and we’re going to encourage the private sector. Create a conducive atmosphere with all sorts of encouragement to ensure that they participate.
“We need to see more teaching hospitals for the private sector, other bottlenecks created by our professional bodies, have to be removed.
“Today I am not sure if there is any university teaching hospital with up to 200 medical students. None. What we’ll do is open it up,” Kwankwaso said.
He said his administration would review all necessary laws and Acts to make bring more private investment into the health sector.
He added that if elected, he administration also plans to address the challenge of brain-drain by producing enough health experts to meet Nigeria’s needs.
On economic diplomacy, Kwankwaso said he would work with other the international community to develop the country.
He said that his government would do whatever it takes to protect the interests of Nigeria and Nigerians, both within and outside the country.
“We are very lucky that the international community is interested in the peace and development of this country. For whatever reason, it suits them.
On his plan for good governance, Kwankwaso said in his government, everyone would be carried along while the right people would be given the right jobs.
He expressed confidence that he would win the forthcoming presidential election, saying those involved in opinion polls should be warned because it is dangerous to the country and its democracy.