Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has responded to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other critics who accused him of demarketing Nigeria.
He maintained that he is simply stating the truth about the country’s current situation.
Obi, speaking at a recent engagement at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, detailed Nigeria’s economic decline over the past 25 years, which has led to a significant increase in the poverty rate.
He compared Nigeria’s poverty rate to the combined rates of China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, asserting that Nigeria has more impoverished people than these three countries combined.
He emphasized the connection between a nation’s fate and the quality of its leadership, lamenting Nigeria’s history of poor leadership.
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Governor Sanwo-Olu criticized Obi’s comments, describing them as disparaging and unflattering.
He expressed concern about Obi’s behavior, arguing that his remarks about Nigeria on the international stage do not portray the country positively.
“He made unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian government but also about Nigeria. I also find Mr Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
However, during a speech at Pa Edwin Clark’s memorial lecture in Abuja on Wednesday, Obi countered these criticisms, insisting that he did not demarket Nigeria but merely presented facts.
He questioned whether international organizations like the World Bank and UNICEF, which have also released reports on Nigeria’s poverty, were also demarketing the country.
“I spoke a few days ago and people said I am demarketing Nigeria, when is truth being demarketing? The World Bank has just shown that 75% of Nigerians in rural areas are poor, is the World Bank marketing Nigeria? UNICEF two days ago said that Nigeria has over two million malnourished children, the second highest in the world, are they demarketing Nigeria?7 Let’s face the reality,” Obi said.
He also questioned the silence of those who had previously protested against former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, noting that the country’s current situation appears far worse.
He asked why they are now silent when conditions have deteriorated significantly.
“I listened to my brother Mike when you talked about, ‘may the Labour of our heroes past not be in vain.’ I’m happy that Jonathan is here. But I can tell you their sacrifice is in vain. They have sacrificed for nothing. We were in this country, when people were protesting, when there was no need to protest under Goodluck Jonathan. Where are those protesters? Have they died? Where are they? So why are we saying it (labours of heroes past) should not be in vain? Jonathan increased fuel from N87 to N120 and people were protesting in this country. And when it was N900 they weren’t protesting. Again, so why are we saying it (labours of heroes past) should not be in vain? People protested when $1 was N180, and when it was N1500 they weren’t protesting. Are they dead?” Obi questioned.
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