“Poverty swelled in Anambra under your watch,” Sanwo-Olu knocks Peter Obi for “de-marketing” Nigeria in US

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has criticized Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party Presidential candidate, over remarks he made about Nigeria’s economic state during a recent engagement at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Sanwo-Olu questioned Obi’s moral standing to discuss poverty in Nigeria, following the latter’s analysis of the country’s economic decline over the past 25 years.

At the event, Obi highlighted how Nigeria’s poverty rate has surged dramatically compared to countries like China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Drawing from the Human Development Index (HDI), he explained that in 1990, Nigeria, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia were all categorized under the medium HDI classification.

Obi further pointed out that in 1990, Nigeria had fewer people living in poverty than its counterparts. However, 35 years later, the country now has more impoverished individuals than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam combined.

“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,” Obi argued.

Reacting, Governor Sanwo-Olu in a statement titled, “Factually Addressing Mr. Peter Obi’s Criticism of Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University,” accused Obi of making disparaging comments about Nigeria.

He said he finds Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing, indicating that his comments about Nigeria on the global stage don’t project the country positively.

“He made unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian government but also about Nigeria. 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 demarket her. That is what true patriotism is about.”

Sanwo-Olu, who predicated his reaction on poverty, which Obi focused on in his analysis, said any leader could fight poverty generationally by promoting education, improving healthcare, providing credit, and granting access to land.

According to him, it is ironic that the former Governor of Anambra, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his tenure, is criticising the Federal Government.

Sanwo-Olu said, “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.

“I say this because the president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions.

“In less than two years, he has provided over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises.”

Explaining how Obi contributed to the poverty problem he criticised, the Lagos State Governor highlighted how poverty increased during Obi’s administration from 41.4 per cent to 53.7 per cent in two years.

He said, “Under Peter Obi, a two-term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4 per cent.

“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7 per cent. 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 per cent to 14.8 per cent.

“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. Mr Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria.