The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in the 2019 General Elections, Atiku Abubakar, has said 2019 was an unsuccessful year for Nigerians.

He also said in a statement that Nigerians faced great insecurity, unemployment, economic hardship and other challenges in 2019.

Atiku, who was the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, called for collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to get Nigeria out of its current challenges.

He said,

“I do not share the sentiment when some people claim that 2019 was a successful year for Nigerians. Such sentiments are reductionist and do the harm of making us have a false sense of victory.

“The bitter truth is that Nigeria is still in the throes of economic instability, with more people losing jobs and the attendant outcome of more children being out of school and more families having a hard time in accessing basic needs of life.”

He added

“The coming of the New Year 2020 is symbolic in many ways. First, it heralds a brand new decade. Secondly, and probably more important, is that this New Year will require us all to stay together more than ever before to take on, head front, the common enemy of insecurity that challenge our everyday lives as Nigerians

“In this New Year, however, I will rather ask that Nigerians stand together with renewed vigour and determination to battle the hydra-headed demon of insecurity that has plagued us in the past decade.

“We must challenge the inadequacies that made us become the global headquarters of extreme poverty; much as we must work hard and fast enough to eliminate the scourge of out-of-school children in the country. These are the challenges that this new decade has thrown at us and we cannot afford to slumber and submit to defeat.

“The problems of extreme poverty and scant investments in education play huge roles in fueling the problems of violent extremism that we spent the past decade contending with. We cannot win the fight against terrorism if we do nothing to reduce or eliminate poverty and illiteracy.”