Peter Obi Says Nigerian Politicians Are Fighting Over a Collapsed Structure
Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has warned that Nigerian politicians struggling for control of political power may eventually discover that the system they are fighting over has been severely weakened by years of poor governance.
Obi made the remarks while speaking at the 60th anniversary of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he expressed concern about poverty, insecurity, unemployment, inequality and the declining quality of life in the country.
He argued that Nigeria was moving in a dangerous direction and warned that failure to address the country’s structural and leadership problems could have serious consequences.
According to Obi, successive governments had failed to provide the quality of leadership required to place Nigeria on a sustainable path of development.
He cited poverty, school dropouts, hunger and insecurity as indicators of the scale of the challenge confronting the country.
Obi also compared Nigeria’s development trajectory with those of several countries in Asia and Africa, including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana.
He argued that many countries that were once at comparable levels of development with Nigeria had made greater progress over the years.
The former governor rejected arguments focused solely on which Nigerian administration had performed better than another, saying the country should instead be assessed using internationally recognised development indicators.
He referred particularly to human development measures, which take into account areas such as education, health and living standards.
“The world has a standard for measuring development that is universally accepted,” Obi said, arguing that Nigeria continued to perform poorly when compared with several peer countries.
He maintained that political leaders should focus less on struggles for power and more on rebuilding institutions, investing in human capital and improving the welfare of citizens.
Obi warned that unless Nigeria changed course, political actors could find themselves fighting for control of what he described as an increasingly hollow and weakened system.
