Peter Obi points fingers for Nigeria’s worsening poverty situation

Former Governor of Anambra State and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has once again sounded the alarm on Nigeria’s deepening poverty crisis, attributing it to a persistent failure of political leadership.

Obi made the remarks while delivering a lecture titled “Politics and Change in Nigeria” at Johns Hopkins University, United States, on Thursday. The event was hosted by Professor Peter Lewis, author of Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria, and a renowned scholar on African political economy.

In the lecture, excerpts of which were shared on Obi’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, the former governor drew sobering comparisons between Nigeria and three Asian nations, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, highlighting how those countries have pulled millions out of poverty over the last three decades, while Nigeria had regressed.

“In 1990, all four countries, Nigeria, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, were in the same medium category of the Human Development Index,” Obi said. “Today, the three Asian nations have advanced to the high category, but Nigeria has dropped to the low category.”

Obi pointed out that the dramatic divergence in development outcomes cannot be explained by resources alone. “It comes down to political leadership,” he said. “Competent, capable, and compassionate leadership grounded in integrity is what makes the difference between progress and decline.”

He backed his assertions with stark economic data. “In 1990, Nigeria had the lowest number of poor people among the four countries, with about 50 million citizens living in poverty. China had over 750 million, Indonesia 85 million, and Vietnam 60 million,” he explained. “Today, Nigeria has more poor people than all three countries combined.”

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Obi argued that this shift is not accidental, but the direct result of governance choices. “While these countries invested heavily in education, healthcare, and social mobility, Nigeria remained mired in mismanagement and poor planning,” he said.

He further noted that Nigeria’s GDP per capita is now less than one-fifth of Indonesia’s and Vietnam’s, and less than one-tenth of China’s.

“Our economy is struggling not for lack of resources, but for lack of vision and execution,” he added. “This is why leadership matters. It sets the tone for national priorities, values, and progress.”

His comments echo a broader concern raised by the World Bank in its recent Africa Pulse report, released during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. The report warns that, despite Nigeria’s abundant resources, more citizens are projected to fall into extreme poverty by 2027.

According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to have the highest concentration of people living in extreme poverty, with Nigeria among the worst affected.

Obi’s message is a call to reflection as Nigeria navigates ongoing socioeconomic turbulence. In his words: “If we are truly committed to building a better nation, we must begin with the leadership we elect and the systems we build to support them. There is no shortcut to national transformation.”

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