The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, says the challenges bedevilling Nigeria revolve around political leadership that has failed the country over the years.

Obi said the only thing Nigeria is producing is poverty, stressing that the past leaders of the country failed to do the right thing at the right time.

The LP presidential flag-bearer said this at a town hall meeting with the students and staff of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) in the Federal Capital Territory on Friday.

He told the cheering students that the reason his manifesto is centered on turning the country from consumption to production is to stop the country from recycling poverty.

“The only thing this country is manufacturing is poverty. Datti and I are coming to change all that because no country grows by consumption without production,” Obi declared.

The former governor of Anambra State stated that poverty has been increasing in Nigeria because “we are not investing enough in education and health which is what makes the difference between a rich and a poor country.”

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Assuring the students that this will stop under his watch as president, Obi noted that “life expectancy globally should be about 72 years but it’s 55 years in Nigeria because of the growing level of poverty in Nigeria, our country that is so blessed.”

“This country should not be poor given its abundance natural and Human Resources,” he added.

The LP presidential candidate stressed that securing the country remains his priority because “nothing, no matter how laudable, can be achieved without a secured environment.”

Obi added that his administration, if elected as president in the forthcoming general election, would negotiate with agitators who are amenable and deal with those who may be recalcitrant and uncooperative “because there can only be one government at a time in a country”.

On the allegation made by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, that fuel scarcity and redesigning of the naira notes were deliberately created to sabotage the 2023 general election, Obi said he runs his campaigns on issues and does not delve in other candidates’ position.

On the plans to remove the fuel subsidy, the former governor said his government would remove subsidy on his first day in office “because they have turned it into a huge racket of corruption which Datti and I will stop”.

Obi further stated that the 2023 general election is about the people, urging the students to seize the opportunity “to take back their country” by choosing character, competence, and antecedents over religion, tribe, and region or “my turn”.

Also speaking at the event, the UniAbuja Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, who explained the motive of the gathering, said intellectual engagement is the basis of political leadership.

The Vice-Chancellor said those aspiring to govern the country must be scrutinized and made to answer questions, adding that poor leadership was responsible for the various challenges bewildering Nigeria.

The Star