Kwankwaso’s 20 promises to Nigerians

The New Nigeria Peoples Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Tuesday, unveiled his manifesto.

In his 160-page manifesto and policy document titled, “My pledges to you. The RMK2023 Blueprint”, Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, highlighted 20 promises that he would bring to fruition if elected president next year.

Below are the 20 promises in his manifesto.

Leadership and Justice:

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We will provide you with patriotic and competent leadership that is guided by the seven time-tested principles of public life: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership-by-Example. We will be fair and just to all, and we shall ensure fairness and justice at all levels of governance.

Peace, Security and Unity [Human Security]:

conscious of the provision of Section 14:2[b] of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, we will secure the entire country, ensure peace and peaceful coexistence reign, and work deliberately to strengthen the bond of unity amongst Nigerians of all backgrounds.

Revamping the Economy: we have an economic plan that is centred around you and your family. We shall improve the income level and strengthen the purchasing power of every Nigerian citizen. Our Nigerian Economic Revamping Strategy has a three-deck implementation scheme:

Stage I: Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP)
Stage II: Targeted Stimulation/Job Creation
Stage III: Long-term and Sustainable Investment

Quality Education for You and Your Family:

Education is a public good. We shall ensure, through the correct reforms and investment, that all our schools provide the appropriate quality education to our citizens. Access, quality and productivity shall be the cornerstones of our education reform. Rather than establishing new public tertiary education institutions (TEIs), our administration will first focus on upgrading, rehabilitating and expanding the existing ones to the level of global competitiveness.

Improved & Modernized Healthcare Services for You and Your Family:
Healthcare service is a public good. My administration will be committed to ensuring that our healthcare system is positively overhauled to ensure humane, effective, efficient, and qualitative service. Saving lives and building a healthy citizenry shall be the priority of all our healthcare institutions because health is wealth.

Labour: Opportunity for All:

Jobs, and jobs, and more jobs will be created at multiple levels through the Economic Revamping Strategy as well as through constructive engagement with the youth by honing their skillsets and providing them with the necessary support.

Energy and Power:

These are the backbone and the central nervous system of the economy. Conscious of the fact that growth will be stunted and development will be paralyzed if these two economic pillars are not adequately and sustainably provided, we shall deploy our energy and power masterplan that is aimed at ensuring availability, adequacy, sustainability, affordability, and safety.

Eliminate Poverty, Ensure Prosperity:

We shall lift Nigerians from the poverty ditch through targeted poverty alleviation and poverty elimination strategies that ensure families at the bottom of the social ladder have access to food, clothing, quality education, basic healthcare and basic housing needs. Preventing those lifted out of poverty from returning into the poverty bracket will receive special attention from my administration. Specifically, we shall ensure that beneficiaries of our poverty elimination programs maintain good-paying vacations, high-yielding investments as well as strategic savings to ensure individual, family and community prosperity.

Balanced Regional Development [Critical Infrastructure]:

The development of our country must be comprehensive, all-inclusive and evenly distributed across the length and breadth of the country. The provision of critical infrastructure that supports the development and the well-being of the people shall be in every region and every state of the Federation. Every injustice, real or perceived, must be tackled and eliminated.

Promote the Rule of Law and the Rule of Virtue:

Lawlessness leads to anarchy. We shall ensure that our country is guided and governed by the rule of law: recognizing that sovereignty belongs to the people, upholding the principle that all are equal before the law, and integrating the rule of law with the rule of virtue.

Dignity in Your Retirement:

Our senior citizens, veterans, and pensioners who gave their all during their youthful years in the service to the nation shall not be neglected. I pledge to ensure that retirees live a dignified life after service.

Deepen Democracy at all Levels:

We shall support all democratic institutions to ensure the continuous growth and maturity of our political system, establish political order, accelerate national development, and maintain national stability. We shall put in place, at all the 8,809 political wards of the country, Community Participation and Reorientation Committees to complement government efforts and ensure community involvement in governance. This will be a scale up version of its successful experimentation for eight years in Kano State during the time of RMK.

Foreign Relations – Improving Our Country’s Ability to Participate in Global Governance:

While maintaining peaceful cooperation and beneficial bilateral and multilateral relationships with the governments of other nations, we shall redesign our foreign policy agenda to reflect the leadership position of Nigeria in West Africa and in Africa with the core objective of reclaiming our country’s position in global governance.

Agricultural Mechanization and Food Security:

We pledge to revolutionize farming practices by investing in technology, training and extension work with the objective of attaining national food security as well as capturing substantial market share of food in the African continent. We pledge to ensure the deployment of global best practices in the establishment and management of forestry, plantation, animal husbandry, livestock, poultry and fisheries as well as guarantee an agriculture value chain that protects the farmers, the livestock owners as well as the consumers.

Affordable Housing Scheme:

The opportunity to own your own house should be available to every Nigerian that works hard. We shall build more affordable houses that Nigerians can acquire. We shall strengthen and encourage the Federal Mortgage Bank and simplify its operations and procedures so as to remove bottlenecks and liberalize access to mortgages and other housing facilities. The apex bank will be encouraged to support commercial banks in this respect. We shall create an enabling environment for private developers to compliment government efforts in the Affordable Housing Revolution.

Public Service Reform:

For the past three decades or so, Nigeria’s public service has virtually collapsed. We pledge to reform the service so as to revitalize and reinvigorate
it to be able to operate with competence and professionalism. We shall rebuild the service in a manner that the basic values, principles and necessary standards of operation are its guiding light

Rid Our Communities of Illicit, Fake and Counterfeit Drugs:

Illicit drugs are the fuel that fans the embers of insecurity. Fake and counterfeit drugs do not only provide serious public health challenges but also undermine the economy and security. We will work decisively and systematically to end the menace of substance abuse, the proliferation of fake and counterfeit drugs as well as end the smuggling and circulation of illicit drugs in our country. We shall establish reformatories/sanatoria in each geopolitical zone to mitigate against the effects of drug abuse/addiction.

Environment, Ecology and Climate Change:

We shall work assiduously to combat climate change and its negative impact such as flood, erosion, desertification etc. We will work to improve the conditions and, preserve the natural beauty, of the environment. We shall beautify our cities and ensure the creation of parks and gardens as well as green belts across the country. We shall ensure the preservation of the natural flora and fauna of our country and work deliberately to save all endangered species.

Entertainment Industry:

We pledge to support and ensure the growth of Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry as a major national image launderer, job creator, national unifier, cultural promoter, and a major contributor of forex inflow. We will create more training and mentoring opportunities, provide special funding support as well as enforcing copyright laws to prevent piracy and counterfeiting.

National Development Plan:

We pledge to reintroduce the good practice of periodic National Development Plan to guide government activities and programmes.