The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) will officially flag off its presidential campaign on Monday in Abuja.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Sunday morning by the party’s presidential candidate, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili.
According to the statement, millions of supporters of the ACPN presidential candidate will also embark on a walk in seven states – Adamawa, Ebonyi, Edo, Kaduna, Kano and Kwara.
The statement read in part: “The ACPN presidential candidate, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, will be flagging off her HOPE2019 campaign with her running mate, Abdulganiyu Galadima, at 10am on January 7, 2019.
“The venue is Cotland Garden in Karu, Abuja – it is located opposite the Emir’s palace in Karu. We will be proceeding on a WalkforNaija immediately after the event.
“The flag-off will be done at the same time with the volunteers’ walk across the following states –
Adamawa, Ebonyi, Edo, Kaduna, Kano and Kwara.”
It added, “During the campaign flag-off, we will be giving more details about our plans to lift no fewer than 80 million Nigerians out of poverty; how we intend to implement a productivity and competitiveness initiative that would create new opportunities and jobs in some key sectors.
“Among the sectors are agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and agribusiness where more than one-third of Nigeria’s active labour population are found.”
Ezekwesili co-founded Transparency International, an international Non-governmental Organisation that focuses on combating global corruption.
As pioneer director of the organisation, she played a frontline role in ensuring the creation of the Corruption Perception Index, which is viewed as the most accurate measure of assessing a country’s perceived level of corruption.
On assumption of office as Minister of Education, there was a challenge of a mismatch between youth burgeoning, unemployability and limited economic opportunities. In responding to the challenge at that time, Ezekwesili ensured a major skills development programme was designed and a new level of certification introduced to Nigeria’s education system.
There was also a design and addition of Vocational Enterprise Institutions (VEIs) and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) as national certications accredited and regulated by the National Board for Technical Education.
There are currently over 200 VEIs and IEIs, which are imparting skills in areas as diverse as cosmetology, welding, fashion design, electrical installation, para-legal studies, TV production, hospitality, among others.
With Ezekwesili’s Red Card Movement, there is a vigorous campaign across the six geo-political zones enlightening citizens on the dangers of continuing to vote for the same class of political “Siamese Twins of bad politics and governance failure.”
