The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, yesterday, emphasised that he was not desperate to be President of Nigeria.

Obi who spoke during the 16th edition of the Leadership Annual Conference and Awards 2023 where he was honoured with the 2023 Politician of the Year Award, faulted the donation of grains to Nigeria by Ukraine.

Obi said: “I have said it everywhere; I am not desperate to be President of Nigeria. I am desperate to see Nigeria work and I am desperate to see Nigeria fight poverty.”

Speaking further, Obi said Nigeria had no reason to be part of poverty in the world, especially Northern Nigeria.

Obi further said there was more money in agriculture than oil any day, any time.

“I read yesterday that Ukraine is giving Nigeria grain. Ukraine is at war. The whole of Northern Nigeria is 744, 268,000 square kilometers. Ukraine is 603,000 square kilometers. They have no reason to give us grain because we have the land. Why are they giving us grain? Because 60 percent of their land is cultivated, 60 percent of our own is uncultivated.

“And the people even said it, from northeast. The Governor of Niger State is here. Niger State can feed Nigeria; Niger State can feed Africa. Niger State is occupying 76.3000 square kilometers of land. They can feed Nigeria,” Obi also added.

Obi further said Netherlands with 33,000 square kilometers which Niger State is twice its size, exported last year, $125 billion of agricultural products.

“Niger State can do five percent of that which is six billion. They don’t need to come to Abuja.

“Northeast is collapsing. They said it is the problem in the northeast. It shouldn’t be. The two biggest States in the northeast, Borno and Taraba combined, Borno alone is over 70,000 square kilometers. Taraba is 54,000. Two of them combined is 125,000 square kilometers, four times the size of Belgium at 30,000 square kilometers and Belgium is doing over $20 billion export.

“There is so much we can do with this country. Let people stop wasting everybody’s time and put these young people that are giving everybody problem, in terms of bringing them out of poverty and you reduce criminality. The more you pull people out of poverty, the more you reduce criminality. People make it look difficult. Let’s invest in the north. We have what it takes to make Nigeria, let’s do it now,” Obi stated.

Mounting the podium, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said it was true that Nigeria is facing challenging times.

“Indeed, it is true that Nigeria is facing challenging times. Absolutely true. And Mr President has never shied away from that. He has always, at every fora, every opportunity, acknowledged the fact that Nigeria is really at a trying time. But again, that is what leadership is all about.

“Nigerians voted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with the deep understanding and conviction that he can indeed turn the corner of our great country. And that is what Mr President is doing.

“Some of the positives that have come out of the two major decisions that Mr President has taken, one, the removal of fuel subsidy and two, the unification or the flotation of our naira, are indications of the kind of boldness and courage and determination and focus that Mr President is giving so that Nigeria will regain its rightful place in the county of nations.

“Let me say that it is not all bad news all the time. Yes, it may be true that Nigeria has accepted grains from Ukraine. But that is not on its own, a very bad story. Egypt takes in about 60 percent of its grain production from Ukraine. And I know that our elder statesman here, Mr Peter Obi, is also understudying the Egyptian economy. The fact that 60 percent of the grain production in Egypt is coming from Ukraine does not make it a failed state,” Idris said.

Idris further told the audience that the fact that Nigeria is going through challenging moment does not also mean that Nigeria is actually a failed state.

On his part, President Tinubu challenged the notion that the Nigerian economy is in distress, highlighting the progress so far and the unprecedented opportunities for growth and development in the country.

The President who was represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation at the event, shared key initiatives and investment efforts by the administration to support Nigerian businesses, students, and vulnerable households, as well as to enhance food security and attract foreign direct investment.

Tinubu said: “I should start by respectfully challenging that notion that the Nigerian economy is in distress. Distress suggests helplessness, being at the mercy of something we have no control over. But that is not the case here.

“We are in challenging times, no doubt, but these times have also been marked by unprecedented opportunities, to reset course and to build a new and sustainable economy, away from the rent-seeking and the waste that was once the order of the day,” he added.

The President further said he has committed to intervention funds totalling N200 billion which was set aside to support Nigerian businesses, in addition to a new Federal Students’ Loan program and the Presidential Initiative on CNG.

The N200 Billion Naira, according to the President, will be disbursed through three new special intervention funds established to support Nigerian businesses.(Daily Sun)