Nigeria continues to push people into absolute poverty – Peter Obi laments

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the 2023 Labour Party, has once again denounced Nigeria’s rising poverty rate, lamenting that more and more Nigerians are falling into poverty.

He made this comparison with the advancements achieved by nations like China, India, and Vietnam in bringing millions of their people out of poverty via the methodical implementation of their policies.

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Peter Obi made the statement in Lagos while giving the keynote lecture at the inaugural Lagos Business School, LBS, All MBA Students Conference, as posted on his official X account.

The former Anambra state governor, while speaking on the theme “Execution as a Competitive Edge,” stressed that while planning and strategizing are important, they are meaningless without effective execution.

“Execution that delivers results is driven by competent and responsible leadership with capacity, compassion, and character to drive disciplined and committed implementation of sound policies and strategies,” he said.

The politician said that during the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era (2000–2015) and the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) age (2015–2030), countries like China, India, and Vietnam demonstrated how responsible leadership and focused execution resulted in noticeable development.

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“China has lifted over 430 million people out of poverty, India has lifted 270 million, and Vietnam has lifted 45 million,” he said, adding that their Human Development Index, or HDI, has improved dramatically as a result of their steady execution.

However, Peter Obi expressed concern that despite adopting the same international policies, Nigeria and a large portion of Sub-Saharan Africa had not seen comparable outcomes.