Victor Ezeja
AdminThe Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has posited that Nigeria “should be more productive than Europe” based on her youthful population and the fact that Europe’s 1,152,000km landmass is a little over Nigeria’s 923,000km.
Regretting that poor leadership has bobbled the progress of his native country, Obi regretted that Europe’s three biggest economies being: Germany, the United Kingdom, and France with a population of about 216million people have a GDP almost 25 times the GDP of Nigeria with virtually the same demography.
Michael Jude Nwolisa, who is the Personal Assistant on Media to the former Anambra Governor, issued a statement on Sunday, reporting this as part of his principal’s address in England where he spoke as a guest at the Celebration of Black History Month by the black community at Oxford University, over the weekend.
In Obi’s words, “Germany has $4.4 trillion with a land mass of 349, 223km, plus a population of about 84m and France has a GDP of $3.049. and 551695km land mass, plus a population of about 54m the UK has a GDP of $3.3.., and a land mass of 243,610km with a population of about 67m while Nigeria has a land mass of 923 769km and a GDP of $489.80 billion.”
The statement further disclosed that Obi while sharing ideas with the black community in the university, reminded them that life, irrespective of color, race, or tribe, should be about building a better society and making humanity better.
While recalling that such disposition was what motivated him to join politics, the 2023 presidential candidate said he abandoned his lucrative business to serve the public not minding the huge losses that came with the move.
“I relayed to them my experience in 2001 while taking an Executive Management Course at Kellogg School of Management, a personal encounter I had with Prof Donald Jacobs, the School Dean, which eventually motivated me to join politics back home in Nigeria, to help build a better nation for all.
“Looking back in time, not minding the bold challenges I have faced, I am grateful for all I have accomplished, especially the positive changes I have engendered in the nation. Especially in the areas of health, education, and pulling people out of poverty,” he said.
Peter Obi maintained that Africa needs to invest heavily in Education and utilize its energetic youth populations, insisting that “Africa should not be attending the summit asking for concessions” as that era of tokenism for Africa has passed.
“Africa with a landmass of 30.3 million km² and a population of over 1.4 billion people, continues to fall short, economically, far below Europe, with a landmass of 10.18 million km² and a population of about 746 million. Africa will rise and enjoy development and progress,” he said.
He reiterated that “Development is a journey. Time was when Europe faced similar challenges, as we face today but tackled by engaging in productive activities. Nigeria, and indeed, Africa need only committed ethical leadership to lead it on the path of development.”
The LP standard bearer told his audience that what is lacking in Nigeria and many African countries is a lack of productivity arising from poor and focused political leadership which Africa should strive to achieve and take their destiny into their own hands and stop looking for tokens from areas not as blessed as the continent.
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