Peter Obi blasts journalists , says Nigeria needs wealth creators in government, not wealth sharers

www.odogwublog.com reports that Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has said that Nigeria needs to have wealth creators managing her affairs and not wealth sharers, if the country is to make any meaningful progress.

He made this submission during a recent media chat in Lagos, during which he was asked to share his thoughts on the next general elections scheduled to hold in 2019.
Obi said: “A man who has never created wealth cannot manage wealth. We need wealth creators in government and not wealth sharers. We need somebody to unite this country. It is critical. I lived in Lagos, I was a businessman in Lagos, I was a banker in Lagos. The people I did business with and invested money, I didn’t know where they came from.”
He dismissed the oft-repeated excuse by those in power that they are unable to keep their election campaign promises because they do not have enough resources to work with. “Which country has enough resources? If you cannot deliver what you promised, then you have no business wanting to continue in office,” he said.
Asked pointedly if he would accept if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decides to give its presidential ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abuakar and wants him (Obi) as running mate, the former Governor said: “I am ready to serve Nigeria in any capacity, even in the kitchen, but that shouldn’t be the conversation.
“You just came and said Atiku/Peter Obi. That shouldn’t be the discussion. It should be, Nigeria moved from 35 per cent unemployment to 40 per cent. Four million Nigerians lost their jobs last year. Our joblessness has increased from 14.8 per cent to 18.4 per cent. That is our worry – not who is coming to continue the next stage of the drama.”
Continuing, Obi said: “We now need people who are entrepreneurs, who started a company. We need to know those who have the competence to do that.
“Yesterday I analysed all the expenditure in education. Nigeria’s budget for education is 1.7 billion dollars – 0.4 per cent of our GDP. South Africa is spending 10 times that amount. We are among the MINT countries. Mexico is spending 60 billion dollars. Indonesia is spending 28 billion dollars, Turkey is spending 24 billion dollars and we are spending 1.7 billion. How can you compete?
“We need to change the conversation. The question we should ask is, who is this man? I want us to sit down and say, ‘who is Atiku?’
“It is not about picking me as VP; whoever is running, whoever is the candidate will make a choice of who to run with. What is important is that let’s get things right. All of us need to look at the country and ask fundamental questions. The conversation must change.
“Election is coming now. How many of you here know the background of (Attahiru) Bafarawa? Nobody is trying to know his background. How many know the background of (Musa Rabiu) Kwankwaso? Nobody can tell where he is coming from; who he is, what he has created, what he has managed. How many of you know the background of (Aminu) Tambuwal? I can go on and on.
“All these people coming now (for the presidency), who has identified them? Nobody knows where they are coming from. So we need to know what they are doing. We need to know what they have done on their own to be able to say, we can entrust these people.
“Last time I spoke with you I told you why for me, at the time, I had sympathy for Atiku (even if they say he is corrupt). Fine, we have had a saint and it didn’t work; maybe we should deal with the devil. But why do I believe or even think about him? He built a primary school, a secondary school and a university in Yola, when he had opportunity of building it in Lagos or Abuja. He has an idea of education. People tell me that he has five factories there. He has an idea of business.”
Obi dismissed the idea that giving power to the youth would change the country’s fortunes for the better, arguing that the main consideration should be competence and ability to unite the country.
His words: “We say we need young people. I have always been an advocate of it and this country has always been ruled by young people. (Yakubu) Gowon, (Ibrahim) Babangida, all of them were young when they ruled this country and they didn’t do what was done in Indonesia.
“Tell me the states ruled by young people today. The youngest is Kogi. It is an unmitigated disaster.
“Zamfara, he is a young man. How can that man sit there 101 people took NECO, 24 passed? A state of five million people only 101 came to exam? How can you have such a person and you are talking about youths?
“So, for me, let’s look for a competent man with capacity. The most successful state in America today is California with six times Nigeria’s GDP; it is run by a man that is 80 years old. He is the oldest governor in America.”

Peter Obi blasts journalists , says Nigeria needs wealth creators in government, not wealth sharers Peter Obi blasts journalists , says Nigeria needs wealth creators in government, not wealth sharers Reviewed by Unknown on Thursday, February 22, 2018 Rating: 5

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