Heavy debts bane of Nigeria’s progress —Peter Obi

Presidential aspirant under the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Peter Obi, has lamented Nigeria’s incessant borrowings, stressing that they have negative implications for the progress of the country.

He noted that the APC-led adminstration, in four years, had borrowed almost $100bn without tangible developments.

Peter Obi, who said this during his visit to the Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, on Wednesday, decried the neglect of food production in the country.

He stressed that Nigeria is in its current disappointing state because of its inability to be a productive country.

Read also: Peter Obi reiterates need for ‘problem-solver’ as President in 2023, rejects consensus

He noted: “This is a great country and I have a simple thing to do. I want to move it from consumption to a productive country. It is not working because it is not a productive country. We cannot see our children, millions of young people that are smart and intelligent stay at home doing nothing and we keep quiet.

“I was in Niger State with 76,363sq km of land, but the people cannot feed themselves and Nigeria. They are also exporting nothing. Whereas the Netherlands is 33,100sq km of land, they are exporting agricultural materials of $120bn while we earn only $18bn from oil.

“All we do here is sharing formula. We have to stop this. We must have a production formula. Let the people produce the oil and keep it. There are so many productive things people can do”, Obi added.

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