Kehinde Fajobi
Former Anambra governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has reiterated that his primary ambition is to see Nigeria thrive, not to occupy the presidency.
Speaking at the fourth convocation of Nexford University, a US-based online institution, Obi criticised Nigeria’s leadership, describing it as “an imposition on the people,” and urged the graduating students to embrace servitude for effective leadership and societal change.
Addressing claims about his desperation for power, Obi clarified, “When people say I am desperate, I say, ‘No, I am not desperate to be Nigeria’s president. I am desperate to see Nigeria work because it can work.’”
He challenged Nigerian youths to help foster the right leadership necessary for development, referencing economist James Robinson, who described Nigeria as a country that knows how to prosper but refuses to act on it.
“How can you allow drivers who’ve passed their destinations to drive you? You will lose. They’ve passed their time. That is what you should help to reignite,” Obi emphasised.
Obi urged the youth to avoid perpetuating the country’s leadership issues, stating, “You are a victim of Nigeria because our generation and the one before us refused to do what is right. We are suffering for it.”
Obi, who served as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), later contested the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party, finishing third behind Abubakar and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).