'President Buhari is not responsible for Nigeria’s problems' - Ex-Gov

isaac dachen

October 3, 2017 10:17 AM

The former Governor of Anambra State believes that President Buhari alone is not to be blamed for all the woes in the country as past leaders all failed.

Former Anambra State Governor,

Mr. Obi, however, said that the problems in the country were as a result of the cumulative years of leadership failure for which the entire political class is guilty.

Obi stated this in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on Saturday, September 30, during the 2017 Independence Anniversary lecture at the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre where he was a guest lecturer.

ALSO READ: "Peter Obi: 'The agitation for Biafra is a result of leadership failure' - Ex-Gov"

The former Governor who spoke on the topic, 'Change and changing Nigeria through harnessing of investment potentials of Ebonyi State: Yesterday, today and tomorrow,' expressed regrets that the countries with the same growth trajectory as Nigeria in the 80s have all overtaken the country in all indices of development.

The former Governor blamed the recent rise in agitation by youth across the country, especially the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB], as a result of the poor leadership of the past administrations in Nigeria, saying that the political class, including himself, was guilty.

Obi said that whether Nigeria was 'out or in' recession, the fact remained that a lot still needed to be done by the leaders, calling on the country to embrace the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to him:

“Nigeria should cue into Sustainable Development Goals [SDG], not in the signature. The country is there in the signature and it is the only country that got involved in Millennium Development Goal [MDG] and did not achieve one goal because as soon as we signed the signature, we threw it away and came here and started doing things wrong.

China put MDGs in their developmental agenda; they main streamed it in their developmental agenda and they are targeting to lift 16 million people out of poverty but I don’t know how many people Nigeria will lift in the next 10 years because there are no such measurable goals, everything is done in confusion.

Our reserve is weak today and we are not talking about savings, rather we are borrowing more. No country succeeds by such Epicurean life.”

Obi thanked Governor Dave Umahi for what he is doing in Ebonyi State and urged him to continue to tell the people he is ruling the truth, adding that the people will trust and believe him the more.

ALSO READ:"Peter Obi: 'I did not say I will fight Anambra election with my blood' – Ex-Governor"

Concluding, Obi called on leaders in Nigeria to be alert to the dynamics of the world, especially the shift from baggage to a knowledge economy.

“We are moving from baggage economy to knowledge economy. So, the country should stop dwelling on solid minerals because it is a baggage economy and nobody lives with it.

This is what Nigeria is doing and we are still talking about oil which is already destined to finish one day.”

isaac dachen