text: Atiku in the US, promises job creation, strengthened ties with other countries | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World NewsNigeria — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News
  19 January 2019 | 3:08 am
  The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said that his mission to the United States (U.S) was not for jamboree but as one of the strategic moves to make Nigeria work.
  Atiku, who landed in the US on Thursday in company of the president of the senate, Bukola Saraki and had meetings with US administration officials and business leaders, said, "I travelled to the United States of America because I had a mission and my mission is to create the right economic atmosphere for American investments to return to Nigeria at a rate and quantum that we had before the current Nigerian administration's policies almost halted the flow of Foreign Direct Investments to Nigeria. I am in America because Atiku means jobs.
  Accusing the current government of lacking the knowledge on how to strengthen ties with other countries, said, "the current Nigerian administration has allowed our relationship with our long-standing friends and partners to deteriorate and this has had unfortunate consequences for our economy.
  Already, we have the unfortunate distinction of being the world headquarters for extreme poverty.
  We cannot afford business as usual. My single-minded focus is to change this dubious record by transforming Nigeria from a consumer nation to a prosumer nation (a nation that consumes what it produces).
  Nigeria has a lot to offer America via her creative industry.
  Nollywood is the world's third largest movie industry. Kaduna State is rich with gold ore. I am also eager to find a market in the US for some of the half a million shoes manufactured in Nigeria's cities of Kano and Aba every day.
  Someone somewhere said Nigeria's youth are lazy. I am one of the single largest employers of Nigeria's youth and I know that that assertion is false. My travels in Europe and America is to sell the Nigeria that I know to the world that does not yet know her.
  A Nigeria with not just a hardworking youthful population, but a nation with some of the smartest working people on earth. A nation that is open for business and a Nigeria that is much more than oil.
  And I am certain that if I am successful in selling this Nigeria to the world, the world will come to Nigeria for business.
  That is why I am in America. Because I believe in job, jobs, opportunity, being united and security and it is time Nigeria and all Nigerians finally have the opportunity to realize their true potential.