Peter Obi has painted a grim picture of Nigeria, saying the country has become “the worst place to be born” due to rising poverty, insecurity, unemployment and hunger.
The presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) spoke in his Independence Day message on Thursday as Nigeria marked its 66th Independence Anniversary.
Obi accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of failing to fix the problems it promised to tackle in 2023.
“Despite the promises made by the APC government in 2023, our nation continues to face deepening challenges across virtually every critical sector of national life,” Obi said.
He pointed to more than 140 million Nigerians living in poverty and hardship, over 80 million out-of-school children, as well as banditry, kidnapping and insecurity.
Obi also mentioned the recent death of 37 young people and raised concerns about hunger and infant and maternal deaths.
“Recently, we lost 37 young people in their productive age. Where millions struggle for hunger, we are now one of the hungrest country of the world, 109 moved to 115 in the recent times with food organisations saying that by the end of this year, 40 million will face extreme hunger.
“We’ve had one of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the world today.”
He added: “Today, Nigeria is the worst place to be born. Our youth unemployment is the highest; over 35 million youths are unemployed, and we have one of the worst drug prevalences globally.”
Obi’s comments came hours after President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria had moved past the difficult phase of economic reforms and was entering an “age of prosperity.”
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired,” Tinubu said.
He added that the focus was now on “shared and widespread prosperity.”
“ You have to pick up your cross and follow Jesus and serve him. “
