Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has lamented that Nigeria has more poor people than China, Indonesia and Vietnam put together.
The former Anambra governor blamed poor leadership for the rising poverty levels in the country.
Obi stated this while delivering a lecture titled ‘Politics and Change in Nigeria’, at Johns Hopkins University in the United States on Thursday.
He delivered the lecture at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, author of ‘Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria’.
Sharing highlights of the lecture via his verified X handle on Friday, Obi stressed that the fate of a nation is closely tied to the quality of its leadership.
“In discussing this very critical issue, which directly impacts the direction of a nation, I pointed out that the failure of a nation depends largely on its Political Leadership.
“Competent, capable and compassionate political leadership, with integrity, will help nations to achieve sustainable growth and development,” Obi said.
Obi, in comparing Nigeria’s path over the past 35 years with that of three other developing nations such as China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, noted that, while these countries have moved into higher categories of human development, Nigeria has regressed.
Peter Obi’s statement comes as the World Bank said that despite Nigeria’s resources-rich status, more of the county’s citizens are expected to sink into poverty by 2027.