Bad leaders’ poor planning and policy implementation must be tackled, he warns
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria has no reason to be poor, Peter Obi has reiterated, blaming unending hardship in the country on bad leadership and poor planning.
He insisted people must be stopped from embezzling public funds at a colloquium and Hall of Fame in honour of Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure in Benin City.
The event was organised by the Edo Policy Round Table in association with Mudiame University, Irrua.
Obi stressed in a goodwill message there is nothing wrong with Nigeria as God has blessed the country with all the good things of life, the problem is just that the country lacks planning and good leadership.
“Before I joined Labour Party, I told Julius Abure that people have told me that you and your leadership are going to allow the primary to be free and fair and since then our relationship has been on that basis,” he declared.
“I like to celebrate people when they are doing something good and I thank you for celebrating him.
“We all have our problems; I am not a saint and I am not a criminal. I have never knowingly done anything that is wrong, if I know it is wrong, I wouldn’t do it.
“I have served in the state, I have served in the private sector and today we are going through difficulties. We are not here to mention names, I just listened to a very wonderful speech when they were talking about planning, if you have not planned, you plan to fail and it is very simple.
“The reason why the country is failing today is due to lack of planning. When you talk about lack of planning, you are talking about lack of implementation because we, politicians, when we are campaigning, everything is sweet and good but once we have the opportunity, we would bring out our true side and start doing the opposite.”
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Nothing wrong with Nigeria, Obi insists
“All I can tell anybody, there is nothing wrong with Nigeria. The country has one of the best in terms of land, weather, God-given resources and people. If we have a better Nigeria, Edo State will be better. For those you think are leaving Edo, they will come when Edo is good.
“One thing God has not given Nigeria is leadership, if we have a good leader we will do better,” Obi said, per reporting by The PUNCH.
“A country like Nigeria has no reason to be poor if not because of leadership, if you compare Nigeria with the three biggest economies in Europe- Germany, Britain and France, these three countries if you compared them with Nigeria in land size, they are just about 20 per cent bigger than Nigeria when you put the three together.
“Our GDP should be better but we have a leadership that is involved in waste and consumption and no production. So whenever you are talking of pulling the people out of poverty and creating jobs, it is simple, just remove the economy from consumption to production, you will create jobs.
“But now all we are thinking about is to buy this and buy that, consume this and consume that, organise this ceremony and that ceremony, it will not work. Now, you have announced a round table, let’s have a round table for Nigeria and everybody and be rest assured that if we get this right we will have a better Nigeria.
Celebrating treasury looters
“We must stop people from stealing public money. We must stop people from wasting public money, it is not their private money and all of us are involved, we must not celebrate them.
“How much money do you need to live as a human being and everybody here, no matter how big or poor you are, you will not be here in 100 years.
“Let us join together in rebuilding Nigeria and bequeath a better Nigeria to our children. We can’t bequeath Nigeria as it is today, we are going to bequeath anarchy and suffering to the younger generation. And when you wake up in the morning, all you hear is killing.”
LP spokesman Yunusa Tanko, the guest speaker, noted Nigeria at 63 is still searching for a political order as it comes the full realisation the dream at independence is made impossible because of ethnicity, religion, and politics, which negatively affect democratic rule and national development.
He praised Abure for making his mark by midwifing the Labour Party to an unbelievable success, building on the strong foundation laid by leaders like Dan Nwanyanwu and the late Abdulkadir Abdulsalam.
Abure himself pitched the Edo governorship poll next year affords the people the opportunity to elect a “Shepherd Governor”, who would be a bridge-builder, must be selfless, ready to take risks, and make personal sacrifices in the interest and well-being of Edo people.
In his view, the Governor must have the capacity to bring all shades of persons together to develop Edo, and must have innovative ideas and openness to harness resources to transform the state.
He stressed a Labour Governor would be interested in wealth creation and poverty eradication, security, local government administration, education, health, and infrastructural development.
Mudiame University Chancellor S.E. Eromosele warned the situation in Edo is dire, with poverty, hardship, and backwardness exacerbating the dependency ratio.
