2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi has lamented Nigeria’s continuous choice of wrong leadership, saying it is the bane of all the country’s problems .
Citing a recent tweet by the US mission in Nigeria condemning governors for living lavishly while asking Nigerians to manage, Obi said the cumulative effect of poor leadership remains the nation’s greatest obstacle to development.
Leadership Failure: Nigeria’s Greatest Burden
I have consistently maintained that leadership failure lies at the heart of Nigeria’s problems. Until we confront it head-on, the country cannot move in the right direction. The cumulative effect of poor leadership remains our greatest obstacle to development. This calls for urgent disruption of the current retrogressive system and the enthronement of leaders with competence, character, capacity, and compassion.
Our declining governance has drawn global attention, as shown in the recent statement by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Nigeria, echoed in The Africa Report (x.com/usinnigeria/st…) – a clear confirmation of what many of us have long said. Once again, let me be clear: you cannot ask the people to keep fasting while you feast every day. As Chinua Achebe rightly said, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.”
I speak out to help build a new Nigeria, free of criminality and corruption. But instead of addressing the message, those who have hijacked our country deploy media thugs to insult and distract. Now that the American government has made similar observations, perhaps they too will become targets.
To all well-meaning Nigerians: this must stop. We must dismantle the system of criminality. We have voted based on tribe and religion for too long – it is time to vote for competence. Let us move from waste, looting, and reckless borrowing to production. Let us build a Nigeria that works.
A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO
