I’m Desperate to Make Nigeria Work, Says Peter Obi

*As Diri restates call for power shift

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa 

Presidential Aspirant on the Platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi, has declared that he is desperate to become the country’s next president in order to make Nigeria work.

The two-term governor of Anambra State and vice presidential candidate of the PDP in 2019 stated this yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Douye Diri, in Yenagoa.

Obi remarked that Nigeria is a great country with untapped potentialities, and noted that he is desperate to move the nation away from a consumption economy to a productive one.

He stressed that Nigeria was not working because of its unproductive state, which he said was unacceptable to the nation’s young, intelligent and smart population.

The presidential hopeful, who reeled out the statistics of agricultural value chain to Nigeria’s economy as against oil revenue, decried the level of neglect of food production in the country.

Obi asserted that if elected Nigeria’s president, he would end the current oil revenue sharing formula and introduce a production formula, particularly in agriculture and ICT.

He said that the $18 billion Nigeria earned from oil monthly could not be compared to Facebook or Twitter, which was just sold for $44 billion.

His words: “I am aspiring to lead this country. For me, it is not a desperate aspiration but I am desperate to see Nigeria work.

“This is a great country and I have a simple thing to do. I want to move Nigeria from consumption to a productive country. It is not working because it is not a productive country.

“We cannot see our children, millions of young people that are smart and intelligent stay at home doing nothing and we keep quiet.

“I was in Niger State with 76,363sq km of land but the people cannot feed themselves and Nigeria. They are also exporting nothing.

“Whereas Netherlands is 33,100sq km of land, they are exporting agricultural materials of $120 billion while we earn only $18 billion from oil.

“All we do here is sharing formula. I want to stop it. We must have production formula. Let the people produce the oil and keep it. There are so many things people can do.”

Obi also condemned the incessant borrowing under the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government, saying that in four years, the country had borrowed almost $100 billion with nothing to show for it.

He promised to change the country’s debt profile and lambasted the government at the centre for making excuses why Nigeria could not work.

In his remarks, Diri said that Obi proved his worth when he served as governor of Anambra, especially when he saved and handed over N75 billion to his successor.

Diri said that Nigeria needed well-equipped and knowledgeable people like Obi to rescue the country from those who have failed to fix it.

The governor of Bayelsa State emphasised that anyone voted to lead must take the responsibility of addressing the challenges inherited rather than putting the blame on previous administrations.

The governor commended the presidential aspirant for his bright ideas geared toward fixing the country.

Diri noted that the PDP had eminently qualified presidential aspirants than anyone the ruling party would present for the country’s exalted seat.

He said: “Indeed you cannot doubt it that Peter Obi has proved his worth as a two-term governor who handed over N75 billion to his successor.

“Nigeria needs those who will rescue this country as it is going down and we all know it. So our country needs to be rescued from those giving excuses rather than fixing the problems and challenges.”