Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has said Nigeria’s poverty and hunger are “largely the result of years of mismanagement and corruption,” and that the country already has the resources to become wealthy if it gets competent leadership.
Obi made the remarks on Monday as a guest and panellist at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association held at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The panel discussion focused on rebuilding Nigeria and making it work for what he described as its “resilient, hardworking, and long-suffering people.”
Obi argued that Nigeria “has no business being associated with extreme poverty and hunger” given its vast human and natural resources.
“We have no business importing food when we possess enormous agricultural potential,” he said.
He said that with the right investment, policies, and political will, agriculture could become “one of Nigeria’s greatest sources of wealth.” He singled out Northern Nigeria’s vast farmland as key to driving economic transformation.
“If countries with fewer resources have transformed their agricultural sectors, Nigeria can feed itself, create millions of jobs, and export food to the world,” Obi stated.
On fuel subsidy removal
Addressing the removal of fuel subsidy, Obi said he remains committed to the position he took during the 2023 elections. According to him, “the subsidy system was riddled with corruption.”
His proposed approach, he said, was to “eliminate the corruption, establish the actual subsidy cost, and then carry out a carefully planned, phased removal.”
He criticized the current implementation, saying savings from subsidy removal “should have been transparently invested in clearly defined, measurable development priorities, especially agriculture, healthcare, education, poverty reduction, and security.”
“Citizens should not bear higher energy costs while the savings remain unaccounted for or fail to improve their lives,” Obi said. “Nigeria must focus its investments on what matters most: food security, healthcare, education, infrastructure, human capital, national security, and unity.”
“A New Nigeria is POssible”
Closing his remarks, Obi reiterated that Nigeria has all it needs to prosper.
“What remains is competent, honest, and purposeful leadership that puts the common good above personal interests,” he said.
The NBA conference drew presidential candidates and their representatives to debate solutions to Nigeria’s economic and governance challenges ahead of the next election cycle.
