Dr Patrick Dakum, Labour Party (LP)’s governorship candidate for Plateau State has promised to leverage agriculture, tourism and mining to improve the state’s economy if elected in 2023
Dakum, who spoke to newsmen on the sidelines of the party’s presidential campaign flag off on Saturday in Lafia, said that Plateau needed focused, experienced and prudent leadership to turn its fortune around.
The governorship candidate said that himself and his deputy, Edward Pwajok SAN, were bringing their integrity, exposure and wealth of experience in governance to bear if given the mandate by the people.
According to Dakum, Plateau is currently ranked 32 in the country in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He, however, promised that his administration would work to make Plateau rank among the top 15 within four years by developing agriculture, tourism and the mining sectors.
Dakum said that he would give priority attention to the enablers of the economic drivers — good governance, security and human capital development in order to move the state to greater height.
He assured that women would be properly represented at the policy level in his administration so as to articulate issues germane to women.
“As a public health physician, I would ensure that the issue of maternal health is taken to the Primary Health Care level in an effective way in order to reduce the high rate of maternal mortality, ” he said.
Dakum, who noted the entrepreneurship and hardworking spirit of Plateau women said they constituted about 75 per cent of workers in farms and mining fields in parts of the state.
He said they would be provided with farming inputs and other incentives to ease their work and to boost the economy of their families, and by extension, the state.
He said his government would also provide mining equipments for the women and work towards legalising their vocation.
“N1,000 in the hands of a woman will go farther than N10,000 in the hands of a man. So, economic development of women is the economic development of the home,” he said.
On the party’s chances of winning the 2023 general elections, Dakum said that Nigerians had clearly demonstrated their yearning for change from the old order.
He said that Labour Party was the way to achieving a new Nigeria given the quality of leadership and sincerity of purpose Mr Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti would be offering.
The governorship candidate said that what they had set out to do in Plateau would be a microcosm of what would happen at the federal level if given the mandate in 2023.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to vote massively for the Labour Party in 2023 for a secure, prosperous and egalitarian nation.(NAN)
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