The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has urged wealthy Nigerians to invest in the provision of water and education for the indigent.
Obi made this call during a chat with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
He explained that 70 percent of Nigeria’s wealth is in the hands of about 1 percent of citizens adding that if one percent of the population about 200,000 rich Nigerians can deploy their resources to provide the basic needs of the poor in our midst, it will save at least some lives.
The former Anambra State governor enjoined governments at all levels to ensure that resource deployment is aimed at enhancing the living standards of the poor and pulling them out of poverty.
He noted that his after his discoveries in taking a humanitarian tour of some areas in the country that opened his eyes to the abject poverty a large segment of Nigerians were facing.
The LP flag bearer said the occasion to announce the completion of the construction of ten boreholes in some Northern States for a short-term water supply for the poor and vulnerable.
He pointed out that if 200,000 rich Nigerians make collaborative efforts to do the same in the area of their choice, it would go a long way to solve the water challenges of the poor.
“I am carrying out a campaign to make the rich in our midst do more in providing water to our rural poor and helping to pull the out-of-school children off the streets for proper development.
“This is the time to cut waste, our larger population can’t be suffering conspicuous lack of basic needs like water and we live lavish lifestyles in their midst, our crisis of insecurity and other challenges derives from poverty and it’s our responsibility to pull people out of poverty through good education,” Obi said.
On what he would do differently if he becomes President following his criticism of coastal roads, he said, “ I cannot embark on a new road when we can’t connect our states and cities in all the geopolitical zones because of bad roads. I will first fix the roads and move the economy.”
Speaking about 2027, Obi said his concern now is how to see Nigeria work not the election, “ Only God can tell who can run for election in future, my interest now is the poor and how to see Nigeria work.
When asked about the internal rift in his party, the Labour Party, Obi said, “What is happening in Labour Party is child’s play compared to what is going on in APC and PDP.”
Also when asked why he did not build any new school when he was Governor of Anambra state, he stated that those who said that failed to know his manifesto.
He asserted that when he came to Anambra state, education was in shambles, schools were closed and the state was number 26 in the country but by the time he left, Anambra was number one in the state.
“ I improved the quality, physical and mental well-being of the people, schools, had the basic things they needed and the people shone like stars and that was my manifesto. Building new schools when the old ones are moribund is just like building coastal lines when internal roads are impassable,” Obi said.
