By Kolawole Ojebisi
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Obi, has decried lack of social conscience by those at the helm in Nigeria, stressing that the citizens are struggling to make ends meet in their own country.
Obi maintained that many Nigerians have become deracinated by the hardship foisted on them by the government, adding that despite not being officially at war, many citizens live like refugees, both inside and outside the country.
He described the country as a vast “crime scene” in need of urgent fix.
Obi spoke during the presentation of a book – ‘Obi: The Political Change Agent’, in Abuja on Tuesday, country.
“Today in Nigeria, we’re not officially at war, yet Nigerians are living in IDP camps in their own country. Nigerians are refugees in Chad, in Cameroon. And the only reason is because we don’t have a government that cares for them,” he said.
He cautioned on the current system of the country stating it unsustainable and dangerous, urging Nigerian to actively work hard to detach from what is called a crime scene of a country.
“Some people are dancing while the ship is sinking. When it finally goes down, it will consume everyone rich or poor. I’ve seen this before in places like Beirut and Afghanistan. Crisis does not discriminate,” he warned.
Obi continued: “We use public resources to paint offices and build mansions, while women die trying to give birth. According to a recent report, one woman dies every seven minutes in Nigeria during childbirth. That’s what we want to dismantle,” Obi stated.
The former Anambra State governor emphasized that many of Nigeria’s problems stem from a lack of leadership and value creation.
“Our leaders in government and business are producing poverty. When people hoard money without creating value, they are fueling poverty. A functional economy must be built on the exchange of real value,” he said.
On currency devaluation, Obi supported the idea but stressed the need to eliminate corruption first.
“Yes, I support removing fuel subsidy, but only after removing the criminality in the system. If we build confidence in the market and clean up corruption, the naira will stabilize. It’s happening in Ghana and Angola, why not here?” he said.
He also lamented the collapse of Nigeria’s infrastructure, citing a trip to Kafanchan where he didn’t see a single trailer transporting goods, a sign, he said, of a broken, unproductive economy.
“Colonial masters built railways to move goods cotton, granite, ginger. Today, they’re gone. We have no trains, no trailers, nothing. And we wonder why people are hungry?” Obi added.
