By Abiola Olawale
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has strongly criticised the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, over his remarks regarding Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
The Lagos State Governor, in a statement, accused Obi, a two-time Governor of Anambra State, of allegedly de-marketing Nigeria.
It would be recalled that during his recent engagement at Johns Hopkins University, Obi asserted that Nigeria fell off economically within 25 years, leading to an astronomic increase in the poverty rate.
Using the poverty index, Obi compared Nigeria, China, Indonesia and Vietnam to carry out an analysis of Nigeria’s rising poverty rate.
He explained that, in 1990, when the Human Development Index (HDI) measurement started, Nigeria, China, Vietnam and Indonesia were all classified under the medium category of the HDI measurement.
According to him, Nigeria had the fewest people in poverty in 1990, and 35 years later, it has more poor people than China, Indonesia and Vietnam combined.
“In the area of poverty, Nigeria with about 50 million poor people, had the least number of people in poverty in 1990 than any of the three countries. While China had about 750 million people living in poverty, Indonesia and Vietnam had 85 million and 60 million poor people, respectively. China alone had about 15 times the number of poor people than Nigeria. Today, however, Nigeria has more poor people than these 3 countries combined,” Obi argued.
Reacting, Sanwo-Olu called on Obi to avoid making “disparaging comments” about the country, and should rather promote the nation’s image.
Sanwo-Olu stated: “He made the unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian government, but also about Nigeria.
“I also find Mr Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively. They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about.”
Responding specifically to Obi’s criticism of the current administration’s economic policies and claims that they were worsening poverty, Sanwo-Olu defended President Bola Tinubu’s efforts, noting that Tinubu had a track record of reducing poverty when he governed Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.
“Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the Government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that.
“I say this because the President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as Governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu also challenged Obi’s record, claiming that poverty worsened in Anambra during Obi’s time in office.
He continued: “Mr. Obi talks a good game. But was he able to reduce poverty while he governed Anambra? Perhaps we can let the facts speak for themselves.
“Under Peter Obi as a two-term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4%.
“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7%.
“But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60% to 14.8%.”
