Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has criticised a former Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, over what he described as his “disparaging comments” about Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu, in a post on his X handle on Monday, accused Obi of making “unflattering remarks” about Nigeria and the administration of President Bola Tinubu, while speaking at an event at Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Obi had in a post on his X handle on April 25, said that the failure of a nation depends largely on its political leadership, as nations could achieve sustainable growth and development with competent, capable and compassionate political leadership, with integrity.
The former Anambra governor decried the level of poverty in Nigeria, saying that the country has more poor people than China, Indonesia and Vietnam combined.
He said, “In the area of poverty, Nigeria with about 50 million poor people, had the least number of people in poverty in 1990 than any of the three countries.
“While China had about 750 million people living in poverty, Indonesia and Vietnam had 85 million and 60 million poor people, respectively.
“China alone had about 15 times the number of poor people than Nigeria. Today, however, Nigeria has more poor people than these three countries combined.
“The question then is, what exactly did these countries do to be able to achieve the desired growth and development? That is where political leadership comes in.”
However, the Lagos governor said he found Obi’s “pattern of behaviour disturbing”.
He said, “I also find Mr. Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively. They do not have to do that for the government.
“But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about,” he added.
The governor also accused the LP leader of contributing to the increase in poverty in Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu said, “Because Mr. Obi focused on poverty and said that the current administration’s policies are making Nigerians poorer, I will concentrate on that.
“Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the Government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that.
“Under Peter Obi as a two term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce.”
The Lagos governor further stated that the poverty rate in Anambra jumped from 41.4% to 53.7% after Obi’s two years in office as a governor.
He added, “But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60% to 14.8%.
“As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins. Being that that is the case, who should criticise who?”
