Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and Nigeria’s main opposition leader propositions in election propaganda that he will aid the country in adopting blockchain technology and cryptocurrency if he gets voted into power. His policy documents elaborate on his plans to create a legal policy that will include blockchain and cryptocurrencies education from primary school through university.
The representative of the People’s Democratic Party, Abubakar is one of the main contenders, from the 50, who are striving to defeat Nigeria’s reigning president, Muhammadu Buhari, in general elections slated for February. Abubakar has previously severed the nation as vice president under the former government of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007.
In thepolicy document, of his campaign released November 19th, the business tycoon promises to “produce a comprehensive policy on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies”. If and when he is elected as president of Africa’s biggest economy in the 2019 election, Abubakar plans to evolve the country into a knowledge-based economy that is supported and powered by information and communication technologies, including blockchain and digital assets.
In order to do so, he stresses that the first step will be to improve literacy in these technologies by altering the school curriculum, so students can learn about them from primary school. Abubakar stated:
My mission is to ensure that Nigeria’s economy is responsive to the challenges of the 21st century knowledge economy by keeping with the amazingly dynamic technological pace.
While the citizens of the country increasing explore the digital currency space to avail cheaper and faster ways to send money abroad, or receive it, the current Nigerian government haven’t been keen on supporting the ecosystem. Godwin Emifiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has compared cryptocurrencies “to a gamble.”
The increasing inflation and exchange-related losses of the naira, the local fiat unit, has been inclining Nigerians towards cryptocurrencies. Notably, Nigerians account for the world’s third-largest holdings of bitcoin as a percentage of gross domestic product, after Russia and New Zealand, as per a report by Citigroup.
The increasing interest towards the digital assets and the lack of regulations from the government has been driving investment out of Africa’s biggest economy to nations like Rwanda and regions such as Europe. In his Policy Document that is dubbed as “Get Nigeria Working Again” Abubakar says:
“Nations that will prosper are those that embrace (a) comprehensive, agile approach that infuses the influence of rapid technological advancement into every area of governance and policy to address the issues of inadequate technological infrastructure, funding and poor database.”
Read more: Nigerians To Make Purchases In Bitcoin, Thanks to PundiX
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