THE presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi in his presentation at the Chatham House in London on Monday vowed to ensure social justice in order to douse ethnic tensions.
Obi was at the Chatham House to discuss his plans for the country ahead of the 2023 general election.
In his presentation entitled: “Policy Institutional Reforms at the Heart of the 2023 Elections in Nigeria,” Obi said the ethnic tension is the result of injustice, unfairness, exclusion, and marginalisation. He noted that once the trend is reversed ethnic tensions will start going down.
He said he would revamp the already impoverished Nigeria’s economy, fight insecurity and corruption, and place the country on the path of rapid economic growth and recovery, adding that he would ensure borrowing in the future would only be for investment.
“This is what I tell you about agitations, as long as we start doing the right things, as soon as we start building an inclusive society where people’s talent and hard work will match up their opportunities, you will start seeing those things go down.
“There is tension even in the western world. We will show compassion; we will show love,” Obi said, adding: “We have alarming insecurity that has led to the loss of many lives and properties, a significant decline in food and economic output, immense trauma that has compromised the mental health of communities, and in some cases, irredentist pressures and disaffection with the Nigerian project.
“The economy is in crisis with a troubling debt profile worsened by oil theft of proportion once hard to even imagine, two economic recessions in six years, and a lamentable power sector that significantly constrains manufacturing and social life.
“The Nigerian state is captive to an elite gang-up and a rentier political economy that has concentrated political power in the hands of those who came to power and influence mainly through their own contrivances and not through the affirmation of the people, and therefore, do not have the incentive to serve the people’s interest.
“Even after exploiting ethnic and religious cleavages and sentiments to ascend to political power, the very people on whose sentiments they grabbed power often become the primary victims of such political fraud that has rendered Nigeria a failing state with a worsening leadership crisis.
“Consequently, Nigeria’s Democracy has been on the wane, evident in the Afrobarometer longitudinal tracking which reveals low voter turnout and apathy in the current Republic.
“But this seems to have turned around dramatically last year, allowing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register over 12 million new voters, with many more complaining they wished to register but were unable to make INEC deadlines.
“What prompted this turn-around? The reasons for these very high stakes are lurking in facts of demographics, with our dominant population (the youths) frustrated and unhappy with the status quo and the diminished opportunities in Nigeria in an age of globalization when the Internet easily reveals to them the prosperous homes of those who live in better-led and governed countries.
“How did we (Nigeria) plunge into a such economic decline that we have overtaken India as home to the biggest pool of the absolute poor in the world? While the poverty rate in India is about 16%, that of Nigeria is about 63% with about 133 million Nigerians classified as multi-dimensionally poor!
“This is unacceptable and needs to change! What Nigeria needs is a Great Escape as the 2015 Noble prize winner in Economics Angus Deaton of Princeton University elucidated, what separates poor & rich is attributable to Health & Education. “But what provides Quality Health and Educational Systems for a society? Committed and Focused Leadership that can Build and Sustain Public Wealth as I was told by Professor Donald Jacobs of The Kellogg School of Management.
“In many ways, this is at the heart of my remarks today which are deeply rooted in my upbringing, particularly my mother’s counsel that I live a life of positive impact and manage both personal and public resources most prudently for sustainable/inclusive growth and development of the society.
“It is the principle that guided my stewardship as Governor of Anambra State, Nigeria, and led to our much-commended performance with some priced awards to show for it. According to him, some of the awards were for outstanding accomplishments in key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) now Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is the same counsel and principle that is guiding and motivating me to offer to serve in a New Nigeria! The answer lies in an understanding of Leadership, Institutions, and Demographics.
“The good news is that demography is driving the change we are seeing in Africa with election after election in the last year in Africa, in which the establishment parties are being upturned by new or small parties.
“It is for this change that my vision of policy change and institutional development is rooted in the push for a broadened scope of social mobility and freedom for Nigerians, particularly our children and youth.
“Like former British Prime Minister Harold McMillan said at the start of the Independence decade, a wind of change is blowing through Africa. Today a new wind of change sees the ballot box as being instrumental to changing of bad leadership.”
He said Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, and himself are committed to a new politics that starts with the ethics of servant-leaders and is anchored on the marriage of clean hearts and skilful hands.
“We know that unless we change our politics by changing our political leadership, we are stuck with this terrible state of underdevelopment and misery.
“We will patriotically reform our institutions, particularly ones directly responsible for implementing government policies to make them fit for purpose.
“It is not to be doubted at the global scene that Nigeria is blessed with some of the most entrepreneurial youths in the world, in science, in business, in art and entertainment.”
He expressed the belief that what remains is to change the leadership class from predators to creators of value; from those whose wealth and power derive from the destitution of the nation and its peoples to those who have demonstrated the competence, character, and capacity to invest in human development, create prosperity, and instil the right values and ethical conduct deserving of servant leaders.
“Nigeria today is at a critical juncture and the people, led by the youths brutalised by bad leadership, are awake and leading the movement to transform Nigerian politics and restart the engine of economic growth and social stability.
“We count ourselves honoured to be trusted especially by the youths, to lead this democratic revolution and we deeply pledge to do so with sincerity, accountability, and unquenchable love and desire for a better Nigeria.
“We are simply the symbol of the Nigerian youths’ struggles to reverse the ugly trend that keeps driving them into social anomie, despair, and rejection of their beloved country.
“We are determined to do everything that needs to be done to rescue and lead our beloved country to prosperity, freedom, security, and peace.
“We will use merit to assemble competent Nigerians from all sections of Nigeria to form an effective Government of National Unity.
