
Former Anambra State governor and Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Mr Peter Obi has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for creating massive poverty in the land and expect any progress.
Peter Obi laments that while other countries have significantly moved forward in the last years, Nigeria has only retrogressed as a result of poor, incompetent, and unsympathetic leadership noting that the more the poverty, the more Nigeria sinks into the abyss of crisis, and unrest.
The former LP flag bearer made the statement when he delivered a keynote address at the 16th Annual Founder’s Day ceremony and 20th anniversary celebration of the American University of Nigeria, (AUN) Yola on Saturday.
He averred that “You can’t create massive poverty and expect any meaningful development, adding for any leader to lead well he must be competent, must have the capacity, compassion and the abilities to listen”.
In addition to that, “a leader must articulate clear and measurable goals for the purpose of achieving his set targets adding that any leader who dwells in complaining about the challenges of the past is already a failure”.
He added that the poverty created by the Tinubu-led administration is separating families noting that at no time in history has the Japa syndrome become more popular and entrenched as people leave the country in droves in search of greener pastures.
He attributed the current hardship Nigerians are passing through to the wrong choice of leadership, and that has culminated in our paying through our nose, advising that “investment in human capital is critical to the development of Nigeria”.
Atiku Abubakar the founder of the AUN, expressed happiness that the journey he started 20 years back has yielded fruits although much needs to be done to consolidate the achievements made so far.
Atiku opined that the university can generate funds from engagement with the Alumni, synergy with government and non-governmental organizations, fundraising, research, endowment fund, and leveraging the agricultural sector amongst others.
Also speaking, the President of the university DeWayne Frazier noted that in the last 20 years, the university has produced excellent graduates who have been impacting the world just as it has impacted the lives of surrounding communities in multifaceted ways.