Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023 general elections, has blamed Nigeria’s slowed economy and growing poverty on the country’s political leadership’s accrued failures.
In addition, he lamented over the rising poverty levels in the country, adding that Nigeria had more impoverished citizens than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam put together.
Peter Obi made this revelation on Thursday at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he was giving a talk on “Politics and Change in Nigeria” at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, the well-known author of “Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria.”
Obi emphasized that a country’s destiny is directly related to the caliber of its leadership while sharing highlights of the talk on Friday through his verified X profile.
Obi noted that in contrast to three other emerging countries—China, Indonesia, and Vietnam—Nigeria has regressed in the last 35 years, whereas these countries have advanced into higher categories of human development.
In his words, “In 1990, the year the measurement of the Human Development Index (HDI) was started, these 3 comparable nations, including Nigeria, were all classified under the medium category… 35 years later, 3 of these nations have moved up to the High category of HDI while Nigeria has fallen into the low category,”
“As of 1990, while Nigeria had a GDP per capita of $556, China had $317, Indonesia had $578, and Vietnam had only $99… Today, Nigeria’s per capita is about one-fifth of Indonesia’s ($5000) and Vietnam’s ($4400) GDP per capita and below one-tenth of China’s ($13,000),” he said.
According to Peter Obi, Nigeria which formerly had a GDP per capita that was higher than that of China and Vietnam, has now fallen far behind in terms of economics.
He further expressed concern about Nigeria’s startling poverty statistics, pointing out that the number of impoverished people in the nation is currently more than that of China, Indonesia, and Vietnam put together.
The political leadership’s dedication to development-focused policies, in Obi’s opinion, is what sets these nations apart in their advancement.
He also reiterated his faith in Nigeria’s capacity, stating that significant progress is still possible. “A New Nigeria is POssible,” he noted.
