2027: Makinde targets jobs, manufacturing in APM agenda

By Luminous Jannamike The Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has promised to prioritise job creation, skills training and manufacturing as part of his party’s agenda for Nigeria, with its manifesto scheduled for unveiling on November 4. Makinde spoke at the APM South-East town hall meeting in Enugu, where he said the party had consulted Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones to develop solutions to unemployment, poverty, insecurity and the trust deficit between leaders and citizens. Makinde said the party’s agenda rested on four pillars: economic recovery, security restructuring, education reform and a reset of the sociopolitical space. “We do not simply manufacture policies out of thin air. We listen to our people, hear what they want to see, and incorporate their expectations into our agenda,” Makinde said.

The governor disclosed that the party had partnered with Skill Reset Nigeria to train one million young Nigerians in skills intended to improve their employment prospects. He also identified high interest rates and inadequate access to long-term financing as major obstacles to manufacturing, promising to create a business environment that would encourage entrepreneurship and sustainable job creation. Makinde urged Nigerians to reject religious and ethnic divisions, arguing that the country’s challenges affected everyone. “Our message to you today is this: Please reject all forms of division along religious or ethnic lines. The challenges we face do not discriminate on the basis of religion or ethnicity,” he said. The governor also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s planned trip to Saudi Arabia to pray for Nigeria, saying leaders should combine prayers with honesty and action at home. “Prayers can…