Nigeria better endowed than USA, UK, yet lags behind them- Peter Obi Obi

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By Madu Obi

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi has said that Nigeria is more naturally endowed than the United States of America, USA, and the United Kingdom, but continues to lag behind because it has not built the institutions and leadership culture required for development.

Speaking at the 2025 Leadership Forum Conference in Abuja, themed “Rethinking Leadership: Uniting a Divided People.” Obi said leadership must be rooted in continuous learning.

He say that nations function like families, where people with different perspectives coexist through understanding, noting that Nigeria’s religious and ethnic tensions are symptoms of leadership failure and not inherent national traits.

According to him, identity politics thrives in Nigeria because incompetent leaders use ethnic or religious sentiments when they cannot compete on merit, recalling how he urged Nigerians not to vote for him based on his ethnicity or faith, but on competence and character.

Obi linked the country’s governance challenges to its weak human development outcomes, saying, Nigeria’s life expectancy of about 54 years places it among the lowest in the world and reflects chronic underinvestment in health care".

He criticized the poor treatment of medical professionals and academics, contrasting it with the remuneration of professors abroad who, he said, earn higher salaries than state governors.

"In Nigeria, professors earn around ₦400,000 even as political officeholders control budgets running into hundreds of millions", he said.

The former governor of Anambra State identified education as the core foundation of national development and argued that countries progress by nurturing talent and creating opportunities, citing Elon Musk’s decision to leave South Africa for the United States as an example of how environments shape potentials.

Obi maintained that Nigeria is naturally better positioned than several advanced economies, with superior weather, fertile land, and abundant mineral resources. "The difference is that countries like the US and UK developed strong institutions, while Nigeria failed to build the systems needed to convert resources into national prosperity", he further stated.

He warned that decisions being made today, including Eurobond borrowings maturing in 2048 and above will directly affect the youth, who will bear the cost of repayment.

Encouraging young Nigerians not to lose hope, he urged Nigerian graduates to take opportunities anywhere in the world, but must remain committed to contributing to Nigeria’s progress. “Your future is tied to the decisions we make today,” he said.

Obi also emphasized that law, order, and the rule of law are the intangible assets that drive economic growth in developed countries, noting that Nigeria’s transformation depends on leadership that respects institutions and upholds judicial independence.