At UNN, Obi also spoke on the issue of corruption, noting that Nigerians should watch out for a person’s antecedents not on what they claim they would do.
By Jeffrey Agbo
In continuation of his nationwide campaigns, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Thursday visited his alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
While interacting with the UNN Business School and other eggheads of the institution, Obi warned against handing over a sick country to a sick man.
He said, “This country is sick and should not be handed over to a sick person. I am not saying that anyone is sick. We have been here for over two hours, we don’t want people who can’t stand for 30 minutes.”
He also said that character and trust should be things to look out for in this recruitment era to avoid plunging Nigeria into further mess, pointing out that the identity of whoever wants to lead the country must be thoroughly examined with nothing to hide.
“In the United States, during election, they go for debates, somebody once asked Barack Obama questions that are personal and he answered. But here in Nigeria, somebody wants to contest election, we don’t know his real age, we don’t know his name, we don’t know the schools he attended. Nobody knows his real identity and he is pushing to lead everybody,” he said.
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The former Anambra State governor noted that what Nigerians need for the job of the President is character, not someone that can be trusted.
“My name is Peter Obi, I can say I went to CKC, went to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Both the VC today, and the DVC today were my schoolmates. We came into the university the same year and left the same year. The people I went to school, I can see them here today, my seniors and my juniors. How come we now have people who do not have classmates? This is very important,” he said.
The LP standard bearer said that everybody shouldn’t have to go to formal education but their records must be straight. “Afe Babalola once told me he never had the opportunity of going to a formal school. There is nothing wrong with that. There are so many people who have done well in life and never went to formal school,” he said.
At UNN, Obi also spoke on the issue of corruption, noting that Nigerians should watch out for a person’s antecedents not for what they claim they would do. “If you said you will fight corruption, let’s go to the road you have passed and see what is remaining there after you left,” he said.
The ex-governor reiterated his earlier position that “this year’s election must be based on competence as it requires physical and mental energy, not a retirement job.”