Labour Party?s presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, has blamed poor leadership for the rising poverty levels in Nigeria.

He lamented that, in comparison, Nigeria has more poor people than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam combined.

Obi made this assertion while delivering a lecture titled ?Politics and Change in Nigeria? at Johns Hopkins University in the United States on Thursday, at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, the renowned author of Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria.

Sharing highlights of the lecture via his verified X handle on Friday, former Anambra State governor emphasised that the fate of a nation is closely tied to the quality of its leadership.

?In discussing this very critical issue, which directly impacts the direction of a nation, I pointed out that the failure of a nation depends largely on its Political Leadership.

?Competent, capable and compassionate political leadership, with integrity, will help nations to achieve sustainable growth and development,? Obi said.

In comparing compared Nigeria?s path over the past 35 years with that of three other developing nations such as China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, Obi noted that, while these countries have moved into higher categories of human development, Nigeria has regressed.

?In 1990, the year the measurement of the Human Development Index (HDI) was started, these 3 comparable nations, including Nigeria, were all classified under the medium category of the HDI measurement.

?35 years later, 3 of these nations have moved up to the High category of HDI while Nigeria has fallen into the low category. Within the same period of 35 years, from 1990 to 2025, the GDP Per Capita of these comparable nations have all improved,? he said.

Further commenting on economy, Obi said, ?Today, Nigeria?s per capita is about one-fifth of Indonesia?s ($5000) and Vietnam?s (4400) GDP per capita and below one-tenth of China?s (1300) GDP per capita. 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 3 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.

?These comparable nations, and indeed other progressive nations, unlike Nigeria, have competent leadership with character, capacity and compassion, committed to prioritizing investment in critical areas of developmental measures; Education, Health, and pulling people out of poverty.?

More Nigerians to sink into poverty

Peter Obi?s statement comes as the World Bank said that despite Nigeria?s resources-rich status, more of the county?s citizens are expected to sink into poverty by 2027.

This is contained in the World Bank?s Africa Pulse report released at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC, the United States.

The report noted that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest extreme poverty rate globally, with a large share of the poor concentrated in a few countries. (Channels TV: Text, Excluding Headline)

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