The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said the various ethnic agitations across Nigeria are a product of failed leadership.
Fielding questions during his address at Chatham House, London, Obi said equity, justice and fairness would solve the problem of agitation in the country.
Asked by a member of the audience at the event, Ajiboye Tunmise, from Huddersfield University, about his alleged refusal to condemn the activities of members of the secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, Obi said, “Many are not following me. Even yesterday, I spoke about Biafra being ended 53 years ago. It’s all over the place in the cyberspace.”
The former Anambra State governor said he condemned all agitators, but added that it was not enough to condemn them. He said it was important to identify the causes of the various agitations in the country.
“I condemn all agitators, but in condemning them, you have to look at what brought about these agitations all over the place.
“Not only IPOB. We have (the) Yoruba Nation movement and all sorts. When you have created this level of massive poverty where 63 per cent of your population is poor, you’re going to create all sorts of problems,” Obi said.
He also stated that the unemployment rate in the country added to the ethnic agitations being experienced, noting that all was a cumulative effect of leadership failure over the years.
“I was speaking to a British minister this morning that we have about 40 per cent unemployment (rate) and about 60 per cent youth unemployment (rate), young people in their productive age doing nothing. If you have 15 per cent unemployment rate in Britain today, you’re going to have massive agitation. Nobody will be able to leave his house.
“So, what you’re seeing is a cumulative effect of leadership failure over the years which will be solved by good governance; when people start seeing justice, fairness and inclusive government and doing the right things, all those things will start reversing themselves. And that is what I and Datti (Baba Ahmed) are offering,” he said.
Obi added that he would engage all agitators in the country, insisting that there was nothing wrong with that approach to resolve the issue.
“I will talk and discuss with agitators, and there’s nothing wrong in that. People agitate in my house and I talk with them,” he stated.
Also, The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said that inappropriate monetary and fiscal policy contributes to the rising inflation in the country. Currently, the country’s inflation rate is 21.34 per cent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Obi, while speaking at Chatham House, London on Monday about his plans if elected the president of Nigeria, said the weakness of the country’s fiscal space is affecting its economy.
Obi was responding to a question from the packed audience about how his government would relate with the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The CBN governor will maintain his independence, he will be respected. Again, it is not the problem of the person there. The CBN has a role of monitoring policy. The fiscal space is like a football field. When somebody who is supposed to play a particular wing is no longer there, you find people playing various wings,” he said.
“Replacing Godwin (Emefiele) and putting somebody else there, with that level of fiscal rascality, which is what is fuelling our inflation and our rate of exchange (won’t achieve much result)… these are some of the things we need to cut. As long as the government continues on that fiscal rascality, our situation will not go,” Obi said.
However,The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has laid to rest the fears from some quarters that he may not get the support of the National Assembly if he is elected President in the 2023 general election.
Bringing the concern to the fore at Obi’s Chatham House address on Monday, a member of the audience joining via Zoom asked the former governor of Anambra State how he intended to get the support of the legislature if the Labour Party was not in control of the National Assembly.
Dousing the fears, Obi said he had been in a same situation as governor of Anambra State.
The Labour Party presidential standard bearer said 30 members of the Anambra State House of Assembly were not from his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, when he was governor of the state.
“Quite frankly, I’ve been through this as a governor. When I was elected and sworn in as a governor I had 30 House members not from my party (APGA). In fact, nobody from my party was involved,” he said.
He stated that getting the support of legislators not from his party would not be a problem if he was elected President, because he would pursue what is right.
“As long as you’re pursuing what is right, everybody will go with you,” Obi said, adding that “…the legislators want development” and he was prepared to bring development to the nation.
He added, “It becomes a problem when you’re pursuing transactional policies which will benefit you or you’re engaging in nepotism…”
He said if the constitution was respected and governance was inclusive, with respect for the nation’s diversity, there would be no need to worry about whether or not the legislature would work with the executive.
