The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has declared Nigeria as a failed state, saying the country must be saved from the destructive antics of predatory leaders.
Obi stated this at the 2023 leadership town hall meeting organized by the Univeristy of Abuja on Friday.
The former Anambra State governor blamed Nigeria’s existential crises on the cumulative effect of bad leadership rooted in incompetence and lack of foresight.
He decried the multidimensional poverty in the country, adding that a new leadership approach must be forged to drive the country forward.
“Nigeria today is facing crises of corruption and bad leadership. Nigeria manufactures poverty. The foundations of better country are security and unity. No criminals are formidable, what is lacking is proactive leadership. The lack of decisive governance driven by commitment has resulted in the collapse Nigeria is experiencing”, Obi said.
While fielding questions on the crises bedeviling the country’s education and health sectors, Obi attributed the problem to predatory, wasteful leadership.
The former governor branded as unacceptable the lack of political will required to deal with criminality and address the crisis of endemic poverty in the country.
“It is not acceptable to have a government that negotiates with criminals, but not with univeristy lecturers. The politics of share and collect must be dealt with so that the country can be allowed to move forward. There is need for massive investment in education and health as the major driver’s of development in any developed countries of the world.
“Leadership in the country abhors wasteage. This is unacceptable. We waste a lot of resources. What about oil theft and other issues? This rascality must not continue. Our administration will make sure the national resources are adequately leveraged and utilized to facilitate the development of the country.
“Bad thinking as well as stealing needs to be checked. We’ll deal with this decisively. The problem is, Nigeria celebrates criminality and bad behavior. That’s madness. We can’t afford our country to tip over. Not at all. We need a country that works for everyone and can compete globally”, he concluded.