Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has condemned former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, for making what he described as “disparaging” comments about Nigeria during a recent engagement at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Speaking on Monday, Sanwo-Olu said he found Obi’s pattern of behavior “disturbing,” accusing him of painting Nigeria in a negative light on the international stage.
“When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively. They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about,” Sanwo-olu said in a statement he personally signed.
Sanwo-Olu specifically took issue with Obi’s focus on poverty during his speech, where the former Anambra governor criticized the current administration’s economic policies, claiming they were impoverishing Nigerians.
Responding, Sanwo-Olu argued that Obi lacked the moral authority to speak on poverty issues, alleging that during Obi’s eight-year tenure as Anambra governor, poverty in the state increased rather than decreased.
“Under Peter Obi as a two term Anambra Governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce. Before Peter Obi became Anambra Governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4 per cent,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7 per cent.
“But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60 per cent to 14.8 per cent.
“As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins.”
The Lagos governor further compared Obi’s record to that of President Bola Tinubu, describing Tinubu’s achievements in Lagos and at the federal level as evidence of effective leadership.
“While he was Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, the President reduced poverty by more than 46 per cent. There is every reason to believe that, based on what he did as Governor of Lagos, he will repeat the same feat at the federal level. After all, the best predictor of the future is the past,” Sanwo-Olu noted.
“I say this because the President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as Governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions.”
He accused Obi of failing to build a single stand-alone school or hospital during his time in office, saying his criticisms lacked credibility.
“Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria. Governor Tinubu, as he then was, was responsible for lifting millions out of poverty. Being that that is the case, who should criticise who?” Sanwo-Olu queried.
The Lagos governor’s remarks have further fueled the ongoing political attacks on Obi whose electoral success in the last presidential election still shocked supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
