Former Minister of Science and Technology and aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Ogbonnaya Onu, on Wednesday has said Nigeria must strive to be self-reliant to overcome economic woes, promising to create jobs and end poverty.
Onu stated this through the Edo State coordinator of the Onu Campaign Organisation, Salisu Momoh, in Benin while wooing APC delegates ahead of the party presidential primary for the 2023 general election.
The ex-minister said he was ready to put the country on the path of prosperity if given his party ticket at the shadow election.
He said, “I am here to sell my candidacy to you and to let you know that I can put the country on the path of prosperity.
“Nigeria has the key to unlock its prosperity as a nation. The key is a knowledge economy driven by science, technology and innovation. No nation has ever become great without the efficient and effective deployment of science, technology and innovation.
“We must be self reliant. We can no longer continue to depend on other countries to solve our problems. We have to deploy science and technology for nation building. This is the route that we must take.”
He said as a former minister of Science and Technology, he has worked hard to make Nigeria improve her global competitiveness ranking among the committee of powerful and high global income nations.
“Let us not lose hope about the future of Nigeria. The Almighty God that created us, gave our dear nation everything that she needs to be among the top economies in the world. We have youths and young people as the most valuable asset to harness the abundantly natural resources abound in the country.
“We must join hands together to bring discipline into our nation, promote justice and fairness and equity as well as allowing creativity to flourish.
“Nigeria must be a producing nation, instead of being a consumer nation. We must produce what we need and we have all it takes to achieve this. It is by doing this that we can create wealth and defeat poverty for a prosperous nation”.
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