The presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, says only good and visionary leaders can sincerely restructure Nigeria toward national unity and development.
He spoke on Sunday when he appeared at the Editors Forum, an initiative of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, in Lagos.
The former Kano State Governor stressed that restructuring was only possible if there were good leaders committed to uniting Nigerians and upgrading security, economy and education among others.
Kwankwaso said: “If elected president, I will listen to Nigerians on the subject.
“I will be open to discussions and negotiations and also consider adjustments capable of moving the country forward.
“We are not going to be rigid on restructuring, especially in the areas of insecurity, economy and education.
“These three are crucial for development to take place.”
Kwankwaso expressed worry and concern over insecurity, and regretted that the North had been worst hit.
He said: “So many people have lost their lives and means of livelihood.
“Some are in the hospitals, while some are internally displaced and cannot work.
“We believe that there must be security for us to experience progress and development.
“After studying the level of insecurity in the country, I believe that there is the need to recruit more military personnel.
“Considering the ratio of civilians to military personnel, there is need to increase the number of personnel in the Armed Forces.
“We need a minimum of one million.”
Reeling out some of his achievements as a two-term governor, Kwankwaso said he paid special attention to human capital development and educational advancement.
He said: “We built universities and also established 26 academic and manpower development training institutes.
“Through these institutes, over 360,000 youth and women were trained and empowered.
“We also gave free lunch to students, gave scholarships to 370 outstanding students, and 148 full time scholarships to Nigerian students all over the country.”
Kwankwaso assured Nigerians that such strides would continue if he became head of state in 2023.