The concern for poverty eradication and inclusive growth is a global phenomenon. However, the evidence, so far, shows that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, have not done very well in these areas. Our country, Nigeria, has remained also very poor and economically depressed.

Things have gone even further worse in the seven and half years since 2015, when the All Progressive Party (APC) took over, led by President Muhammadu Buhari Administration. This Buhari Government has revealed clearly, how bad governance can completely ruin the fortunes and even lives, of the citizens in extreme poverty, despite the Billions of Dollars Nigeria gets from oil. This group of the very poor, underclass and lower-class Nigerians, who live below the extreme poverty line of 1$ a day – which is the universal standard for judging extreme poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Nigeria, constitute seventy-one per cent (71%) of the population of Nigeria. Given the human and material resources God has endowed Nigeria with, this is an embarrassment and great concern, to all of us Nigerians, in or out of Government, whether at home or abroad.

These unpleasant situations and conditions have caused the gap between the rich and the poor to become very wide and perilous. They have also created favourable conditions for the deprived Nigerian citizens, to be involved in self-help efforts, some of which include, violence, criminality, banditry, militancy and all sorts of anti-social and criminal activities, to make ends meet. Some of the literate ones have now become heavily involved in the risky and illegal migrations to foreign countries. These situations have further created great political, economic, social and security challenges for our Nation. We believe and pray that in the forthcoming Presidential Elections of 25th February 2023, another Political Party and President will be elected who will lead the Poverty Eradication Battle that will win over poverty and deprivation and restore Nigeria to the true Giant of Africa, that she is supposed to be.

These conditions, which we have just described briefly above, are clear evidence that the old Public Policy Paradigms for tackling deprivation, mass poverty and marginalization as well as speeding up the provision of social welfare and prosperity for all citizens, especially as have been carried out under the Buhari led APC Administration, have failed woefully and should not be continued. In a democracy, equal opportunities and minimum conditions for socio-economic development, decent life and enjoyment of the dividends of democracy, must be made available, accessible and obtainable by all citizens, regardless of their ethnic, religious, regional, class, gender and any other social cleavages to which they belong, that exist in our society. As we all know, hunger, poverty, want and lack do not respect any of these social categories. They all do suffer the consequences of poverty, lack of empowerment, high levels of unemployment and non-existence of opportunities for living decent lives, that should be readily available to all citizens of any democracy.

We have done a Comparative Study of the Manifestoes of the three leading Political Parties: the Labour Party (LP), the All Progressive Congress (APC), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); and also undertaken the Content Analysis of the Campaign Speeches of their flag bearers, namely Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar. We have come to the firm and obvious conclusion that it will serve Nigerians far better, to vote for Peter Obi of the Labour Party, if they desire to get out of gross poverty, unemployment underemployment and deprivation, which is now prevalent in the country.

This will enable Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, to implement his Vision and Programme of moving the entire Nation from Consumption to Production to create a New Nigeria where poverty, lack, unemployment and hunger, will be things of the past. According to Mr Obi, this policy shift from Consumption to Production will cause an economic revolution based on transforming and modernizing the Agricultural Sector, which processes and adds value to our produce, for export and local consumption.
Second, it will diversify our sources of foreign exchange. For now, Nigeria obtains her foreign exchange mainly from the export of Crude Oil and its allied products. Third, Mr. Obi argues that it will promote inclusive economic growth and development. What most people, including other politicians, do not know is that without promoting inclusive growth, you can generate rapid growth, but with increasing unemployment, poverty and mass hunger in that same country.

In other words, it is entirely possible for a Country to be producing and exporting food crops and yet, the majority of her citizens are experiencing mass unemployment, poverty, hunger, malnutrition and the associated health problems. Production without inclusion will promote better economic growth aggregates, such as Gross Domestic Products and Income Per Capita and similar other economic indices, but growth would not automatically trickle down to the poor or reduce urban and rural unemployment and poverty.

For example, between 1999-2014, Nigeria witnessed a very high growth rate of between 6 to 8 per cent per annum. But the poverty and unemployment were not down-streamed. They continued to rise, even in the face of this so-called rapid growth. Only a concrete movement from Consumption to Production that leads to inclusive growth and rapid development, which the Obi/Datti Presidential Ticket promises to offer Nigerians, is bound to generate more production and wealth for all Nigerians, win the Battle on Poverty and create mass employment for both unskilled and skilled labour, effectively and rapidly, in this country.

It is this innovative policy vision and programme, that has made the Obi/Datti Presidential Team, very attractive and promising to all Nigerians, especially to the Youths and Women. Obi/Datti Policies, will therefore, be very different from what Nigerians have experienced in the last twenty years or so, under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Party (APC). Policy-wise, the APC and PDP, are the same Party. Bola Tinubu was thus right, while speaking at one of his party rallies, to declare that he was seeking to be elected President under the platform of the “PDAPC” Party. Thus, all they can give to Nigerians is continued and intensified poverty, unemployment, blood-letting, continuous insecurity and corruption. Already, they have made Nigeria to become the POVERTY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

Consequently, Nigerians must be made aware of the fact that Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the Presidential Candidate of the APC’s Muslim-Muslim Ticket as well as Abubakar Atiku, the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, are the same. They are simply opposite sides of the same coin. Hence, they will continue with the unfortunate policies of the President Buhari-led APC Government, which have, for seven and a half years now, produced only killing, stealing and destruction, throughout the country – from North to South; and East to West – all through the Middle Belt. Nigeria has never experienced it so badly since independence.

Yet, this is what voting for either the APC or PDP is bound to continue in Nigeria. Only the Labour Party (LP), has a solid pact with Nigerians, that will lead to creating a New Nigeria of our dream. For example, Atiku supports Ruga, Open Grazing, the proposed APC Policy of confiscating all Water Ways throughout the country and the take over by the Federal Government of all lands in the Federation, belonging to the Natives, but held in trust by the State Governments. Their goal is to find “free lands” where they will settle the Fulanis from other African Countries in Nigeria, some of whom they have brought into the Country and are already causing serious security, political, economic and social problems in our Country.

It is laughable and unfortunate, that what Atiku offers as his version of “Restructuring the Federation”, is carrying out these dangerous policies, just mentioned, and changing the Nigerian Constitution to “legitimize” these evil policies, which the APC has pursued under President Buhari’s Administration, since coming to power in 2015.

In conclusion, let us advise that there is a great need to mobilise and enlighten Nigerians, to know that voting for the APC and the PDP, is voting for the same Party, and for the continuation of the evil Public Policies of the APC Administration, led by President Buhari. Nigerian Voters must, therefore, be mobilised and concretised to vote for a New Nigeria, by voting in the Labour Party (LP) and therefore, the Obi/Datti Presidential Team for a New, Better and Prosperous Nigeria, where the Battle on Poverty will be easily won in this Country. This will also completely terminate the evil policies Nigerians have witnessed and severely suffered, especially under the unfortunate Buhari-led APC Government in Nigeria since 2015.

Therefore, the inevitable conclusion is that the Strategic Framework and Innovative Approaches as led out by Peter Obi and in the Manifestos of the Labour Party are better suited for driving the economic, social and political development in Nigeria. We believe that once they are effectively implemented, with proper coordination, monitoring and evaluation, it would make life more meaningful for all citizens, wherever they reside in this Nation.

Dr. Dan Mou, a Public Policy and National Security Expert, is currently the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Poverty Eradication, Development and Equal Opportunity (CEPEDEO), Abuja, Nigeria.