I’ll move Nigeria from sharing to production_ Peter Obi

The former Anambra state governor, Peter Obi, a presidential aspirant under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party said it is possible to move Nigeria from a consumer to a producing country.

Obi made this remark when he appeared recently on a live television talk programme where he bore his mind on his political ambition as well as other issues of national concern.

During his nationwide delegates’ campaign tour, the former presidential running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 general election, stated that he only needs 4 years to fix Nigeria. Obi said he would replace sharing formula of monthly allocation with a production formula if elected.

He further stated that Nigeria has been badly managed over the years and the country is collapsing. In a meeting with PDP delegates in Kaduna State, Peter Obi promises to turn Nigeria into a producing nation that is less dependent on oil.

The presidential aspirant who is the first to tour all the 36 states of the federation irrespective of party lamented the huge debt burden of the country saying in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo Nigeria owed $3 trn as against the current breathtaking figure.

When quizzed on his position about the recent killing of Deborah Samuel, the 200-level female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, Obi described the tragic event as very sad. ” That incident diminishes the society. That incident diminishes Nigeria as a country. It shows how fragile our creation is. We have a constitution that guarantees freedom of worship, and speech, and people should not take laws into their own hands no matter how provoked. It is a very sad situation which should not have happened.”

Obi said in his campaign tour of the states, he interacts with stakeholders on ways and means of building a more coercive, loving, and peaceful society which in his word is critical. “When I campaign around, I tell the people I will create a Nigeria where people love each other and respect the rule of law.

And commenting on his campaign tour of the 36 states of the federation, Obi said he did it because even as a governor he visited every local government area in Anambra. He said part of his interaction with delegates is on why the country cannot continue on the current trajectory.

He said two things bother him most in Nigeria. ‘ I find so many things very worrisome”. First, he said it is most worrisome for him that the politics of Nigeria is substantially transactional. The second is the low rating of the naira by Nigerians. He said one of the most important ingredients of being a nation is the respect and trust people have for their currency. He said when you diminish your currency, you ruin your country.

According to Obi, a country’s currency is a measure of productivity. It is a measure of the economy.

“I find it disturbing that government officials who are supposed to be the protector of our currency have abandoned the currency and now spending the dollar. It is worrisome that while our manufacturers cannot find dollars to fund their businesses, politicians who have no legitimate means of earning dollars are sharing dollars. He said government is owing gratuities to retired civil servants, and university teachers’ salaries, our kids are not in school and yet politicians are sharing money. It is absolutely worrisome. We can’t continue this way of sharing money without productivity.

He recalled his visit to Morroco where he was asked to change the dollar to the local currency to buy and pay for services. ‘ In Morroco, you spend their currency’.

On the comment of one of the panelists that Nigeria is a poor country, Obi countered that Nigeria is a very rich country but what is poor is the leadership. ” The leadership of the country is poor. In my tour of the states, I look at the land God has given us and the people. We can remove Nigeria from being a sharing country to a productive country. He compared Nigeria with Vietnam saying the latter’s total export last year was about $300b comprising of 98% manufactured goods, not oil whereas Nigeria was $30b. Vietnam he said has 339 sq km of land and a 100m population as against Nigeria’s 900+ landmass and over 200m people.

He attributed the dire security situation in the country to a lack of production activities.