The type of leader needed in a divided Nigeria —Ex-Gov Obi

Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has suggested that Nigeria at the moment no longer needs leaders who will tell the country the problem they met, but those who will profer solutions to the problems.

The former governor stated this at the maiden edition of the Ripples Nigeria Dialogue held in Lagos on Thursday, with the title, “Rebuilding Trust in a divided Nigeria.”

The event was organised by Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism (RCDIJ), a nonprofit organization in conjunction with Ripples Nigeria, an award winning online newspaper.

According to him, that Nigeria “is divided is no longer the issue. The first question is how did we get there? How do we get out” of the situation at the moment.

He added, “The main critical component of governance is trust, do Nigerians trust their government, the answer is no.

“The trust we voted this government for was because it promised us it will solve our problems, but when they get there they are telling us what they met there.”

Making reference to the bill on not too young to run, Obi said that there was nothing wrong in young people ruling Nigeria so long as they are good.

“If too young is good let him rule, we don’t want people that will give us excuses that these are what we met. We want people that can tell us these are what we will do.”

Read also: Soyinka, Obi lead Ripples Dialogue on how to rebuild a divided Nigeria

The erstwhile governor lamented the level of nepotism in the current government, describing it as the highest form of corruption”

“Nepotism has now become a measure of competence, the only people you now hire are your relatives. These are the things that do not augur well with a society and what Nigeria is facing.

“When you have leaders who do things on merit the agitation we have in the country today will end. In a country where you have 10 million people out of school, there is no way we cannot have the agitation we have in Nigeria today.”

The governor regretted the kind of followers Nigerians have become, lamenting that they have become “insanely complaisant”, and have become the worst problem for the country than the leaders.

Also noting that Nigeria’s problem is having leaders who are not prepared to lead but were forced to become leaders, Obi linked Nigerian leaders to comedians, saying that “Clarus and Gregory are now in charge of Nigerian government.”

On the rising debt profile of the country he said, the question is not how much you owe, but what you used it for.

He regretted how Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea have economically grown far ahead of Nigeria despite the fact that there was a period Nigeria was ahead of them.

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