The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for self-deceit, noting that the president can’t create massive poverty in the land and expect any progress.
Obi stated this in his keynote address at the 16th annual Founder’s Day ceremony and 20th-anniversary celebration of the American University of Nigeria, (AUN) Yola on Saturday.
“You can’t create massive poverty and expect any meaningful development. For any leader to lead well he must be competent and must have the capacity, compassion, and the abilities to listen.
“Other countries have significantly moved forward in the last ten years, Nigeria has only retrogressed as a result of poor, incompetent, and unsympathetic leadership, the more Nigeria sinks into the abyss of crisis, and unrest.
“Purposeful, thoughtful, and progressive leadership has made all the countries develop in many areas while Nigeria is heading towards the precipice.
“For the sake of making a fair analysis, I decided to consider countries with massive population and diversity like Nigeria. In 2014 Indonesia had a GDP of $890bn and per capita income of $3,475, India had a GDP of $2.39trn and Per capita of $1,560 and Nigeria had a GDP of $574bn and Per capita of $3200.
“In 2024 Indonesia has a GDP of $1.445bn and per capita of $5,200, India has a GDP of $3.89bn and per capita of $2,678 while Nigeria’s GDP dropped from $574bn to $220bn and per capita dropped from $3,200 to $1,000 in the last ten years. All the countries I mentioned have life expectancy above 65 years while Nigeria’s life expectancy is 53,” Obi said.
Obi added that “a leader must articulate clear and measurable goals for the purpose of achieving his set targets adding that any leader who dwells in complaining about the challenges of the past is already a failure”.
Speaking during the event, the founder of the AUN, Yola, Atiku Abubakar expressed happiness that the journey he started 20 years back has yielded fruits although much needs to be done to consolidate the achievements made so far.
He charged the Board of Trustees of the university to think out of the box and evolve ways by which the university could independently generate funds for survival.
Atiku opined that the university can generate funds from engagement with the Alumni, synergy with government and non-governmental organizations, fundraising, research, endowment fund, and leveraging the agricultural sector amongst others.
He thanked the staff, students, and the board of trustees particularly the late elder statesman, Ahmed Joda who was the first chairman of, the Board of Trustees of the university for his unwavering commitment to the development and progress of the university.
Also speaking, the President of the university DeWayne Frazier noted that in the last 20 years, the university has produced excellent graduates who have been impacting the world on the lives of surrounding communities in multifaceted ways.
He noted that some of the students who graduated from the university are working in Silicon Valley, Google, and other globally renowned conglomerates, while others have set up successful businesses in Nigeria and beyond.
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