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Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has promised to lift 20 million Nigerians out of poverty in six weeks.
Mr Adebayo made the statement at an interactive session on climate change and environmental concerns hosted by the University of Abuja as part of its presidential town hall series.
According to him, the figures are achievable through massive drive and investment in agriculture as a means to overwhelmingly reduce the alarming number of poor people in Nigeria.
“On the poverty rate, do you know that we can lift 20 million out of poverty in six weeks, not six months now, six weeks? through investment in Agriculture and agro-allied investments,” he said during his presentation.
Clarifying his statement for Peoples Gazette after the event, Mr Adebayo said the possibility of his proposal was in the affirmative.
He argued that through agriculture, biofertiliser, and agro-allied entrepreneurship, a quick intervention could be made to drastically reduce the country’s poverty rate.
“Agriculture, bio-fertilizer, basically from agro-allied because if you are able to give people a means to earn a livelihood within a cycle you are fine. Especially agriculture.
“Solar panel will take a little while because you have to learn how to fix it, how to repair it, how to manufacture it, that takes 18 months or more but agriculture is the first.”
When The Gazette enquired further about whether Mr Adebayo’s assertion was a campaign pledge, he replied, “that is certain.”
“That one is certain now because if you look at… Let me tell you something if you elect somebody as president, however poor he is, from that day, he is not poor anymore.
“He’ll be earning salary, move his family to the aso villa, he’s driving government car, why can you not do it to every citizen?
“If you give people even planting ginger, there are over 2000 crops that Nigerian soil can grow.
“All you need to do is make sure that you allocate land, you give people the input, give them fertilizer, they’ll be employed immediately and the government is going to be the offtaker. It’s done all over the world, it’s not that complicated,” he added.
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