The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25, 2023 election, Peter Obi has urged blacks to shake off the effects of the Slave trade and deploy their abundant natural resources and talents to make global impact.
Obi, who spoke at the weekend in England as a guest at the Celebration of Black History Month by the black community at Oxford University, said that the time has come for Africa and the black community to engage in productive activities, good governance, and purposeful leadership.
He shared ideas with the black community, reminding them that life, irrespective of color, race, or tribe, should be about building a better society and making humanity better, recalling that this was what motivated him to enter politics.
Obi noted that he joined politics, leaving his lucrative business to serve the public, not minding the huge loss attendant to his decision.
“I relayed to them my experience in 2001 while taking an Executive Management Course at Kellogg School of Management, a personal encounter I had with Prof Donald Jacobs, the School Dean, which eventually motivated me to join politics back home in Nigeria, to help build a better nation for all.
“Looking back in time, not minding the bold challenges I have faced, I am grateful for all I have accomplished, especially the positive changes I have engendered in the nation, especially in the areas of health, education, and pulling people out of poverty,” Obi stated.
He reminded them that Africa needs to invest heavily in education and utilize its energetic youth populations, adding that Africa should not be attending summits asking for concessions as the era of tokenism for Africa has passed.
According to the LP standard bearer, “Africa with a landmass of 30.3 million km² and a population of over 1.4 billion people, continues to fall short, economically, far below Europe, with a landmass of 10.18 million km² and a population of about 746 million. Africa will rise and enjoy development and progress.”
Obi went further to say that with a land mass of Europe at 1,152,000km, almost the same as Nigeria with 923,000km, Nigeria with a youthful population should be more productive but is hindered by poor leadership.
He noted that “development is a journey. Time was when Europe faced similar challenges as we face today but tackled them by engaging in productive activities. Nigeria, and indeed Africa, need only committed ethical leadership to lead it on the path of development.
Obi stated that the three biggest economies in Europe – Germany, the United Kingdom and France – with a population of about 216 million, have a GDP almost 25 times the GDP of Nigeria with an almost similar population.
Germany has $ 4.4 trillion with a land mass of 349, 223km, plus a population of about 84m and France has a GDP of $3.049 trillion. and 551695km land mass plus a population of about 54 million; the UK has a GDP of $3.3 trillion and a land mass of 243,610km with a population of about 67million; while Nigeria has a population of about 220 million, a land mass of 923,769km and a GDP of $489.80 billion.
Obi told his audience that what this means is that what is lacking in Nigeria and many African countries is a lack of productivity arising from poor and focused political leadership which Africa should strive to achieve and take their destiny into their own hands and stop looking for tokens from areas not as blessed as the continent.