2023 Presidency: Hayatu-Deen vows to end bloodletting, fix the economy 

Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

A leading Presidential aspirant in the main opposition party, Hayatu-Deen Mohammed has lamented over the volume of bloodshed in the country, pledging that if he is priviledged to occupy the number one position in the country, he will not only reconstruct the economy but also bring the insecurity menace to an end.

The Borno born entrepreneur stressed that he was exposed to the nuances of the Nigerian economic system at the age of 30 when he became the Chief Executive of Officer of New Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC) comprising of 145 companies.

He said that he was part of the team that floated the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) that became the economic think-thank that ushered in a prosperous Nigeria.

Hayatu-Deen made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja when he met with members of the House of Representatives to woo their support over his Presidential ambition.

The aspirant expressed worry that the country has drifted from the dreams of the founding fathers and turned into a killing field.

He said, “I would say without fear of contradiction, that my greatest motivation for going in is not just to fix the economy which is at the root of all of our problems but to stop the ocean of blood, leashed in this country. It is mind boggling and it’s almost unbelievable. Nobody with a conscience will see our sons and daughters and their grandchildren and mothers and sisters and aunts and uncles being slaughtered all over the place”.

He stressed that the entrepreneurial energy in the country is not in short supply, adding that he has the capacity to unleash his experience to revamp the nation’s economy.

“With my motivation, my background experience, and as somebody with a proven track record of transformation, I will go in and unlock that switch, turn it on again, and take this country to the stratosphere. Nigerians are phenomenal people. The entrepreneurial energy that flows through the veins on Nigeria, is unparalleled. I can only compare it to the United States because the human intelligence in this country is unbelievable. But there are barriers that are holding us back.

“I will roll back the frontiers of government and give expression and hope to the Nigerian private sector, represented by small, medium, large scale industries, to actually come in and play the rightful part by incentivizing them and removing all manual controls and obstacles. With sufficient checks and balances, we can actually make this country one of the greatest nations on the face of this planet”.

The aspirant boasted that he has worked with three Presidents and was part of the team that anchored the privatization policy of the country, moving against the wishes of the labour unions and the civil society that only saw it as a ploy to lay off workers which lay the foundation for his incursion into partisan politics.

“Every day when I wake up, I’m actually involved in politics in one way or the other in the home, on the streets, at the place of work, et cetera. It was actually in a public institution, owned by the 19 Northern governors and I had to contend with dealing at that time with the military governors of the19 states, heavy major generals and brigadiers. And each one of them had placed a compelling set of demands and pressures on my shoulders and our management. We had to navigate those waters to ensure that we’re able to make everybody happy, while at the same time not stalling the progress of the corporation.

“So politics has been part of me and I have been prepared for leadership because I was saddled with both the private sector, civil society space and the public space. But more than that, I was one of the key founding members of the Nigerian Economy Summit Group, the foremost private economic think tank that was established in 1992, to foster sustainable long term economic development of this country by bringing both the public sector, civil society and the private sector together to unleash reforms to coincide with the period of globalization. But for the NESG, Nigeria would have been different today because there was a lot of mutual suspicion and distrust between the public and the private sector”.

The members of the House who gave him a standing ovation said that they were thrilled by his in-depth knowledge of the nations problems and solutions.

The House Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu who was also the host assured the aspirant that the ruling party has ruined the country, adding that it will take a personality of his standing to turn around the economy of the country. He said that the aspirant left the opposition party when he realized that the Buhari administration has drifted from his blue print on the economy.

“Here is a man that was focused and fearless and when they failed to listen to him, because he comes from a very humble home where integrity matters, he decided to let go. We can’t continue like this. So Mr. President, we cherish your desire to lead this nation. We cherish your desire, not because of what you can get because some of us know what you have, because you want to impart in our people”.

Elumelu urged the aspirant to do everything possible to ensure that the aspirants work together so that the party will reclaim power in 2023.