Fayemi replies Soludo, unveils APC economic plan

The immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, says a former Central Bank Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, deserves commendation for his insightful article which stressed the need for the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party to come up with an economic plan thatcan address the slump in the price of crude oil.In the article, which has since been rejected by President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign team, Soludo berated the Jonathan administration for alleged gross mismanagement of the economy and depleting the nation’s resources.Soludo had also noted that the APC had only been making great promises but had failed to explain to Nigerians how it planned to implement its promises in the face of dwindling resources.However, Fayemi, who heads the Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign, said the APC would provide jobs through the creation of public infrastructure.Fayemi said the APC had already started addressing the problem of unemployment, pointing out that the states with the lowest rate of unemployment – Lagos, Osun and Kwara – are all APC states.The former governor said the APC would immediately begin to build refineries and eventually bring to an end, the importation of refined petroleum products.He reacted to Soludo’s observation on APC’s promise to create 720,000 jobs a year in the face of job deficit of over two million a year, saying the 720,000 jobs were for direct employment alone, adding that other indirect jobs would be created.He said, “We have noted with concerns that Nigeria’s unemployment rate of 23.9 per cent should be seen as a national crisis. And if this government was more sensitive to the enormity of the challenge that this presents, it would be reluctant to jump all over the place in self celebration while so many of our youths are wasting away.“In the immediate future, our priority is to tackle unemployment and provide good jobs by embarking ona massive programme of public works, building houses, roads, railways, ports and energy plants. Over the long term, we believe we must wean Nigeria off its dangerous addiction to oil which currently provides 80 per cent of our spending, leaving us at the mercy of volatile international oil prices.“Even as a federalist party, we believe that an economy that is dependent on a commodity that is so dangerously exposed to price volatility must always prepare for eventuality through savings and investments once the agreed thresholds are met. What we disagree with is the unilateral and arbitrary deductions in accruable revenues in a way that hampers the development of the federating states.“Going by the government’s statistics, is it mere coincidence that the three states with the lowest unemployment rate – Osun, Lagos and Kwara – are all APC states? This is an evidence of our party’s ability to tackle this problem head-on. The APC’s policy thrust will create an enabling environment and incentives for the formal and informal sectors to lead the quest for job creation.“This will be done in addition to skills acquisition and enterprise training to ensure our youths are equipped with the appropriate skills to take these jobs. Merely introducing the National Qualification Standards would power a whole new world of opportunities for our artisans by launching them into the international job markets.”