Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has said with its abundant human and natural resources, Nigeria has no business leading the pack of the world’s poorest nation.
Obi said this while speaking to staff and students of the University of Abuja, on Friday, January 27, 2023, in a townhall meeting.
While reeling our facts and figures to buttress his points, explained where Nigeria is currently at and where it is going to be if he is voted into office as President, come February 25, 2023.
The Labour Party candidate was at the institution as a special guest in an event organised by the University of Abuja Leadership Center.
He explained that all of Nigeria’s problems whether in the areas of the economy, education, health, or politics revolved around the failed political leadership it has been saddled with over the years.
Obi noted that leadership failures over the years and the refusal to do the right thing at the right time was responsible for the woes in our system.
The LP candidate said, “The only thing this country is manufacturing is poverty. And Datti and I are coming to change all that because no country grows my consumption, without production.”
He stressed that poverty is increasing in Nigeria because we are not investing enough in education and health which is what makes the difference between a rich and a poor country.
Obi promised the students that under his watch, all of this will end.
He further noted that, “Life expectancy globally should be about 72 years but it’s 55 years in Nigeria because of the growing level of poverty in Nigeria, our country that is so blessed.
“This country should not be poor given its abundance natural and Human Resources.”
The Presidential candidate also announced that He and his running mate, Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed are coming to halt the drift and position the country as giant of Africa that we all profess.
The former Anambra state Governor reiterated that securing the country will remain his administration’s top most priority because nothing, no matter how laudable, can be achieved without a secured environment, pointing out that his Presidency will negotiate with agitators who are amenable and deal with those who may be recalcitrant and uncooperative because there can only be one government at a time in a country.
On the allegation made by one of his opponents that fuel scarcity and redesigning of the naira are deliberately created to sabotage the forthcoming election, Obi said he runs an issue-based campaign and cannot descend to the level of the opponent in question.
On the vexed issue of the removal of petroleum subsidy, he said if given the opportunity, he would not hesitate to remove subsidy the first day in office because those currently running the regime, have turned it into a huge racket of corruption.
Obi told his audience that the next election is about them and they must seize the opportunity to take back their country by insisting that character, competence, and antecedents guide their decision, not religion, tribe, and region or my turn because in truth it’s the turn of the teeming Nigerian youths who are wasting.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, explained the motive of the gathering saying that intellectual engagement is the basis of political leadership.
The vice-chancellor said that those aspiring to govern us must be scrutinized, made to answer questions, and wondered why Nigeria is where they are if not for poor political leadership which is everything.
