The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has faulted former presidential candidate Peter Obi’s approach to international engagement and presentation of Nigeria’s challenges, describing the former governor as a major contributor to the issues of poverty and others confronting the nation.
Sanwo-Olu said that Obi cannot exonerate himself from the challenges before the country since his tenure as governor of Anambra was marked with high poverty rate.
While reacting on Monday to Obi’s recent comments at Johns Hopkins University, in which he criticised Nigeria’s current state under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, he stressed that his remarks were unpatriotic and contributed to worsening the country’s poverty rate.
According to him, Obi’s negative comments could discourage potential investors, damage Nigeria’s global reputation, and affect business decisions, ultimately hindering the country’s economic progress.
” I also find Mr. Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively. They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about ”
” Because Mr. Obi focused on poverty and said that the current administration’s policies are making Nigerians poorer, I will concentrate on that,” he added.
The Lagos governor emphasised that effective leadership combats poverty through initiatives like education, healthcare, credit access, and land rights.
However, he contrasted this with Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor, suggesting his current criticisms are inconsistent with his past performance.
“Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the Government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that”, he stated.
“I say this because the President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as Governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“While he was Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, the President reduced poverty by more than 46%. There is every reason to believe that, based on what he did as Governor of Lagos, he will repeat the same feat at the federal level. After all, the best predictor of the future is the past.
According to Sanwo-Olu, Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor was marked by poor performance and failure to eradicate poverty, which he suggests contributed to the country’s ongoing poverty issues.
“Under Peter Obi as a two-term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4%.
“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7%. But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60% to 14.8%”
“As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins. Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria. Governor Tinubu, as he then was, was responsible for lifting millions out of poverty.
