The National Rescue Movement (NRM) presidential candidate, Esther Okereke, has unveiled plans to address Nigeria’s electricity crisis, insecurity, corruption and economic problems if elected as president in 2027.
Nollywood actress and humanitarian Okereke said her political ambition was driven by years of working with vulnerable Nigerians, including widows, orphans and people living with disabilities.
She dismissed the notion that she was just a celebrity candidate, defending her political credentials and saying her grassroots experience had given her first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing ordinary Nigerians.
“I’m not just an actor. “I would say I’m a humanitarian in politics. I found foundations for widows and orphans and the disabled. I’ve been running my foundations single-handedly with no support from anywhere,” she said.
She described herself as a grassroots candidate and said her proposed policies were captured under the six-pillar ESTHER Agenda, which she called a “people’s manifesto.”
The agenda includes economic development, energy, education, security, social and sustainable development, technology transformation, transparency, housing and health.
On electricity, she said her administration would give priority to ending the power crisis through the deployment of renewable energy and decentralized power generation.
She suggested a target of 25,000 megawatts in her first 100 days in office, saying better electricity would also help uncover and address other problems, including insecurity.
“The first is to take out the darkness in the system because when you take out the darkness, you can see. Then, you secure the system with security. Fix electricity. Take out the darkness so you can see the security issues and tackle them. We have 100 days to get to 25,000 megawatts. Very possible,” she said.
Corruption and personal interests were identified as major barriers to fixing the power sector and officials who failed to deliver on agreed targets should be replaced, she said.
On Nigeria’s debt burden and revenue problems, the NRM candidate suggested doing away with what she described as redundant parastatals, agencies and ministries.
Funds recovered from such restructuring and the recovery of public resources would be reinvested in the economy, she said.
“First of all, we will cut off many parastatals that are redundant, fake parastatals, fake agencies, fake ministries, many of these ghost organizations. Cut them off, then we go for recovery,” she said.
“The recovery of public funds will be part of the “R” of her ESTHER Agenda,” she said.
Okereke also suggested increased funding for security agencies and community policing as part of her strategy for addressing insecurity.
She contended that residents who know the lay of the land in their communities would be in a better position to help protect them if trained and equipped correctly.
Fund our security. Community policing is very important. “Let those who know the terrain guard their forest, let them guard their community,” she said.
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With the right expertise and support, she said, community police could be trained and deployed in six months.
Okereke said corruption is a major obstacle to solving Nigeria’s security and economic problems and promised to make its elimination a priority.
“Corruption within the system, and that is something we do not take for granted in NRM. That’s our motto. Corruption kills everything. It spoils everything in a system. So that we can fight corruption first, because that is what is plaguing us,” she said.
She also called for more investment in human capital, lamenting the loss of talented professionals and workers to other countries.
She argued that investment in Nigerians and better opportunities would reverse the loss of skilled manpower.
Okereke said she expected her strongest support to come from grassroots communities, where she believes her experience has given her a clear understanding of the problems facing Nigerians.
“We have people that have the interest and the love of the grassroots, love for people. Now, this is me coming at it from this grassroots angle, because I feel what they feel, I see what they see. At least I’d know where I was at. “Basic amenities are not a luxury, these are basic rights of the citizens,” she said.
She also defended her lack of conventional government experience, noting her involvement in hospitality, real estate, investments, construction and agriculture.
I’ve run businesses in different sectors, and that is how Nigeria is. “We have the power sector, we have the finance sector, we have the housing sector, we have the agricultural sector which I have invested in, run and managed,” she said.
Good leadership, Okereke argued, ultimately depends on the ability to make hard decisions for the benefit of citizens.
“You just need willpower,” she insisted.
