How Jonathan promises to raise 10m jobs if re-elected

President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, promised to create 10 million jobs within the next five years, to reduce unemployment rate in the country if re-elected in the February 14, 2015, presidential election.

He made the pledge at the famous Mapo Hill in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, during a rally organised for him by the Oyo State Presidential Campaign Committee of the PDP, headed by the Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide. The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on the occasion, presented the party’s flag to the governorship candidate of PDP in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin.

Jonathan stated that he would ensure that his office and the PDP create at least two million jobs every year through the Presidential Job Creation Board, headed by the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, and made up of government officials and private sectors, adding that statistics at his disposal showed that about two million Nigerians enter the labour market every year.

He also said he had not disappointed Nigerians in the fulfillment of his electoral promises since he was elected president of Nigeria in 2011, adding that he was at the same Mapo Hill and other parts of the country in 2011 to ask for the votes of Nigerians and they voted for him.

Jonathan, who earlier paid courtesy visit to the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade, also promised that the Federal Government would look into upgrading the Ibadan Airport to an international status.

The monarch, who spoke through one of his high chiefs, Lekan Balogun, had asked Jonathan to re-open the abandoned dry port at Erunmu, upgrade the airport at Alakia to an international status, look into creation of Ibadan State and give Ibadan a substantive minister instead of the current minister of state.

“I was here in 2011 to campaign in this great Mapo Hill. You worked with us, you voted for me and I became the President of this country. Today, I am here again asking you for your support. I am sure that talking to you in this great Mapo Hall today, you will surely support us and we will be victorious. Then, you voted for us and we have not disappointed you. We have done a number of projects in Oyo State.”

He recalled that the Federal Government in the past four years had executed several projects under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), spent over N10billion in intervening in tertiary institutions in Oyo State through Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for institutions owned by the federal and state governments.

While saying that the Lagos-Ibadan-Kano rail line has been completed, he said the government has commenced work on the Lagos-Ibadan light rail project. He also mentioned the on-going reconstruction and expansion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Jonathan described his administration as one that has really committed a lot of efforts, to the transformation of agriculture after the days of the former premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

On the insecurity and corruption in the country, Jonathan said: “We are working very hard and surely we will win the war against terror. Let me reassure all Nigerians that my commitment and method of solving the problem of corruption or fighting corruption is not a number of people I tried and jailed. We have tried more Nigerians and more Nigerians have been jailed within this period after passing through due process.

“If I tried 10million Nigerians and jailed five million Nigerians for corruption that does not solve the corruption problem. So, for you to solve the corruption problem, you must use modern technology to prevent people from stealing. This is what we are working on. “I promise you, if you vote me and  I come back to serve this country for the next four years, the day I would leave there, the next person that would come as president of this country would not have to talk about corruption. We are working on technology and we will use technology to block all the areas that people are corruptly enriching themselves. We are no longer in the analogue generation. So, we must deploy Information Technology (I.T) to solve our human problems. I will solve the problem of corruption in this country.”

Jonathan, however, described the people of the South-West in the opposition as hypocrites, saying: “Those parading themselves as opposition leaders in the region are hypocrites, otherwise, how can they be doing things contrary to the established norms and beliefs of the people?

“The South-West believes in human rights, equity and social justice.  Those parading themselves as leaders, who once claimed to be part of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) are following somebody that just clamped people into jail for as long as 300 years without following due process.”

The rally was attended by the chairman, Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih; Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is the South-West Coordinator, PDP National Campaign Council;  former governor Peter Obi of Anambra State; Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign committee, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and a host of others.