Nigeria betrayed by leadership failures, says Obi
Peter Obi, Labour Party 2023 presidential candidate, has said that leadership failure remains the major obstacle to Nigeria’s development, dashing the hopes of the country’s founding fathers.
He lamented that the prediction at independence that Nigeria would rise as Africa’s economic and political power has been derailed by poor leadership.
“Our founding fathers fought for independence with passion and determination to build a prosperous Nigeria that would stand among the world’s most advanced nations,” he said.
“But those dreams were betrayed by successive leadership that enriched a few and impoverished the majority.”
Obi recalled that by the end of 2007, Nigeria’s total debt stood at about N2.5 trillion, only 10 per cent of GDP, after debt forgiveness under President Obasanjo.
By 2014, he noted, the country had become Africa’s largest economy and was set to achieve middle-income status.
He said the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in 2015 reversed these gains, leaving the nation today with a debt of N175 trillion — nearly 50 per cent of GDP — without growth in the productive sectors.
“Nigeria has now slipped to the fourth-largest economy in Africa, behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria,” Obi said, regretting that in just one year, the APC administration has pushed more than 15 million Nigerians into poverty while over 150 million lack access to basic healthcare, education, water, and sanitation.
Despite the grim picture, Obi said Nigeria’s potential for greatness remains, if the right leadership emerges.
“Our priority must be prudent economic management, investment in human capital, rule of law, and infrastructure development.
“With disciplined and people-centred leadership, Nigeria can rebound as other nations have done,” he said.
