The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has said more Nigerians fall into poverty while other other countries lift people out of poverty.
This was as he contrasted it with the progress made by countries like China, India, and Vietnam in lifting millions of their citizens out of poverty through disciplined execution of policies.
In a post on his official X handle, Obi stated this in Lagos while delivering the keynote address at the maiden Lagos Business School, LBS, All MBA Students Conference.
The former Anambra state governor, while speaking on the theme “Execution as a Competitive Edge,” stressed that while planning and strategizing are important, they are meaningless without effective execution.
“Execution that delivers results is driven by competent and responsible leadership with capacity, compassion, and character to drive disciplined and committed implementation of sound policies and strategies,” he said.
The politician cited China, India, and Vietnam as examples of nations where disciplined execution under responsible leadership translated into tangible progress during the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, era (2000–2015) and the ongoing Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, period (2015–2030).
He stated that through consistent execution, China lifted over 430 million people out of poverty, India lifted 270 million, while Vietnam lifted 45 million, significantly improving their Human Development Index, HDI.
He, however, expressed regret that Nigeria and much of Sub-Saharan Africa have failed to achieve similar results despite signing on to the same global policies.
“While these countries and others are lifting people out of poverty, more people are falling into poverty in Nigeria, with over 130 million Nigerians presently classified as multidimensionally poor,” he lamented.