On infrastructure:

“We must invest heavily in infrastructure as the cornerstone for economic transformation. We must upgrade our ports and harbours while building more modern airports. We must also launch a ship building industry to ensure we valorise our merchant sea-faring potential. No country of our size and potential can afford to neglect rail development. We need a system of fast trains linking all our cities and towns. The heavy traffic jams that continue to inflict such misery on motorists in our major urban cities are likely to worsen with the current rate of urbanisation and demographics. The long-term solution is to build trams and light rails to ease the urban transportation nightmare.

“We must also commit to development of our roads and highways. Our immediate priority should be filling up all the potholes on our dilapidated roads through direct labour public works that employ thousands of our youths. We should also develop the vast bitumen deposits in Ondo and Ekiti. The proposal by cement mogul Aliko Dangote to use cement concrete on our road construction projects is worthy of consideration, particularly in the South East and the Niger Delta, where soil erosion is endemic.”

Mailafia in an article “Seek ye first the Economic Kingdom” published by The Tribune newspaper on October 1st, 2018.

On agricultural development:

“We must launch a green revolution to ensure food and agricultural self-sufficiency. Historically, Nigeria has been one of the leading agricultural nations in the developing world. More than 70 percent of our population work in the rural-agrarian sector. Much of our food production system relies on peasant agriculture, with all the constraints and limitations that this entails. The discovery of oil in the 1970s created a new political economy anchored on collection of rents from the oil majors. While it brought untold wealth to our national coffers, it also generated widespread corruption and rent-seeking behaviour. The social contract between the government and governed was undermined. A surfeit of cheap dollars encouraged massive importation of food and other items, leading to an artificially high exchange. Local farmers and local industry were discouraged...

“Today, we are a major food-deficit country. According to a recent study, between 1990 and 2011, our average annual food imports stood at N1.923 trillion. Although there have been some improvements in recent times, the annual average still exceeds N1.5 trillion. Food security must therefore be placed at the heart of a renewed strategy for rural-agrarian transformation. We must also empower our researchers and scientists to work on developing our indigenous seeds into highly improved varieties that bring optimal yields while enhancing the nutritional quality of the food intakes of our population.”

Mailafia in an article “Seek ye first the Economic Kingdom” published by The Tribune newspaper on October 1st, 2018.

On the office of the president:

“When we are in power come May 2019, charity will begin at home. We will reduce the presidential fleet to only two. We will cut the waste within the administration. I will never leave this country for the first three months of our administration. I lived in Europe for about half of my life. Going abroad has become quite boring for me! I will also reduce the fleet of vehicles in the presidency. I do not plan to fall sick and do not ever imagine going abroad for any medical treatment whatsoever. I will insist on the same regime for cabinet ministers and other senior government officials.”

Mailafia speaking in an interview with Williams Babalola of The Punch Newspapers, published on October 21, 2018.

Obadiah Mailafia

Office

Election