The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi has said poverty is not Nigeria’s destiny, calling for better leadership, proper management of public funds and investment in education, healthcare and small businesses to improve citizens’ living conditions.
Obi made the call on Saturday, in a post on X to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. He also questioned why Nigeria had not declared the day a public holiday for national reflection on the country’s poverty crisis.
He cited figures showing that Nigeria’s poverty rate rose from 40.1 per cent in 2019 to 56.2 per cent in 2023, with an estimated 63 per cent in 2026.
The former Anambra State governor said the figures showed a worsening situation, accusing those in authority of appearing unconcerned as more Nigerians struggle to afford basic needs.
Obi said millions of citizens were finding it difficult to obtain food and healthcare, questioning the value of economic growth when people continued to face hardship and insecurity.
Obi questions Nigeria’s rising poverty rate
Obi said government accounts of economic progress should be judged by improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
“What meaning does economic growth have when citizens are getting poorer, hungrier, and more insecure? Progress must be measured by improvements in people’s lives,” he wrote.
He said the rising poverty rate had turned Nigeria into a symbol of the global poverty crisis.
The former presidential candidate also questioned how a country with abundant human and natural resources had allowed poverty to spread.
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He suggested that the government should have declared 17 October a public holiday, not for celebration, but to give the country time to reflect on the situation.
“Perhaps today should have been declared a public holiday, not for celebration, but for national reflection on how a country so richly endowed with human and natural resources has allowed poverty to overcome it,” Obi said.
His comments placed the country’s poverty figures and the living conditions of its citizens at the centre of his criticism of the government’s handling of the economy.
Leadership, education and agriculture as solutions
Obi said Nigeria could reverse its poverty trend through competent leadership and better use of public resources.
He identified investment in education and healthcare, alongside support for agriculture and small businesses, as measures that could help improve living conditions.
The former governor said the country could build a future where citizens had enough food and lived with dignity.
“Poverty is not Nigeria’s destiny,” he wrote, expressing confidence that the country could change its current situation through better leadership and investment.
He ended his message with a call for a Nigeria where no citizen goes to bed hungry and everyone can live with dignity.
“A new Nigeria where no citizen goes to bed hungry and where every citizen lives in dignity is POssible and OK,” Obi said.
WHAT READERS SHOULD KNOW
Obi’s post put Nigeria’s poverty rate at 40.1 per cent in 2019, 56.2 per cent in 2023 and an estimated 63 per cent in 2026.
Obi identified competent leadership, proper management of public funds, education, healthcare, agriculture and support for small businesses as ways to tackle poverty.
He suggested that 17 October should have been declared a public holiday for national reflection.
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