By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi recently rejected an expensive hotel recommended for him in Washington to lodge in a cheaper one to maintain his humility that brings him closer to the poor and the disabled that society neglects.
He disclosed at Africa Leader’s Executive Speaker Series co-sponsored by Africa United for Peace at the African Christian Fellowship Center in Washington that he googled hotels and chose one that cost $100 or less per night.
Obi, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) vice presidential candidate in 2019, recounted that as he celebrated his 60th birthday with disabled persons in Nigeria last month, one asked him for assistance with her business.
“When I asked her how much she needed, she said, “N6,000”. I thought if only N6,000 would improve her business, I won’t be happy sleeping in a hotel costing $280 per night,” Ob recounted.
He told the gathering of African Christians in the Diaspora that he was not in the fellowship to ask God to do more for Nigeria because “God has already done a lot for Nigeria – we should do more ourselves.”
He narrated how his American professor had challenged him to help develop public wealth instead of his personal wealth and how that ultimately led him into public life.
The Diaspora is partly to blame for dismal governance across Africa, Obi insisted, because when good hands leave the continent, a vacuum is created for bad hands to fill.
He said when he travelled abroad as a Governor and the Nigerian embassy recommended an expensive hotel for him he rejected it for a cheaper one.
He added that when he was told it wasn’t befitting his status, he queried, “how will those I am meeting with know where I slept and what difference would it make even if they know?
“You can’t be coming to look for development assistance while looking extravagant!”
Obi, a wealthy man ever before he became Governor in 2006, refused to hold a lavish party for his 60th birthday in July 2021, choosing rather to help the less privileged.
