Updated: Onu joins presidential race, promises to make Nigeria a production hub

The Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, has joined the race for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), promising “to make Nigeria a production hub.”

At his declaration on Friday in Abuja titled “Call for Service”, Onu said Nigeria can no longer look to foreign countries for its salvation.

He said: “We must as a nation start thinking big. Nigeria must be a producer nation instead remaining a consumer nation. We must produce many of the things that we need and use as a people. We have all it takes to achieve this. It is by doing this that we can create wealth and enough jobs for our people, fight and defeat poverty, create wealth and prosperity for our nation.

“Nigeria must be self-reliant, we can no longer depend on other nations to solve our problems. We are better equipped to solve our problems ourselves. This is the road that we have to take. This is the road that science, technology and innovation will make possible for us to take.”

According to him, when elected, he will use science, technology and innovation to unlock the prosperity of Nigeria.

“Fellow Nigerians, we have the key to unlock the prosperity of our dear nation, and this key is a knowledge economy driven by science, technology and innovation. This is so because no nation has ever become truly great, whether in ancient or modern times, without the efficient and effective deployment of science, technology and innovation to nation building.

“I want all Nigerians, particularly the youths to know that Nigeria has a bright future. Let there be nothing that can make any Nigerian loose hope about the future of Nigeria. The Almighty God has created us, gave our dear nation everything she needs to be a leader in the world. Working together, we will make use of knowledge economy driven by science, technology and innovation to make Nigeria truly great.”

While calling on his party members to elect him as their candidate, and Nigerians to vote him as President, he said he has the experience and integrity to make Nigeria great.

“I am convince that I have the knowledge, the experience, the credibility, the education having been trained in one of the best universities in the world, the vision, the integrity , maturity and a man who can be trusted. I most respectfully ask my political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to elect me as its presidential candidate and the people of Nigeria to elect me as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for me to be the chief servant of the nation,” he said.