North has potential to transform Nigeria – Peter Obi

Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said that northern Nigeria holds the key to transforming the country, given its immense untapped potential.

Obi made the remark while addressing participants at a meeting of the National Political Consultative Group (North) held in Abuja on Sunday.

The former Anambra State governor lamented the deepening poverty in the northern region, attributing the situation to decades of poor leadership and inadequate investments in critical sectors such as education, agriculture, and infrastructure.

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Obi emphasized that with its vast arable land and a large youthful population, the North could drive national development if properly harnessed. He called for deliberate policies and strategic investments to unlock the region’s potential and lift millions out of poverty.

“And when you have poverty, you have humanity that you cannot control because when people don’t know where the next meal will come from, you can never control their actions,” Obi stated.

“And they easily recruit,” he said, referring to bandits amid worsening insecurity. “It all rests on government to solve it.”

“I’ve always said the north can change Nigeria,” he added.

“The greatest asset of this country is the north. I have always said it; we can make more money from agriculture than we make from oil.

“This entire country produces less than six million tonnes of rice; that is less than 10 percent of what Bangladesh produces.

“Bangladesh is a country that lives on 148,600sq of land that is the size of two northern states: Niger at 76.3 and Borno at 70.8. equals to what?”

Obi said fixing the region’s poverty levels would have a positive impact on the fight against insecurity and touted other measures.

“The more you pull people out of poverty, the more you solve insecurity. We need to invest in education,” he added.

“We can’t talk about free universal basic education when people are not going to school. Our children are not in school.

“I’ve taken time to go to the north and sat down with the Almajiri children; they are the most brilliant people God created. If they can’t go to school, take the school to them.”

Obi expressed optimism that Nigeria can be reformed.