Peter Obi | File Photo
‘We must stop waste as a tradition of our government and nation’
By Valentine Amanze
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has condemned the Bola Tinubu-led federal government of Nigeria for attending the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with 1,411 contingents, the same size with China.
Both countries parade the highest number of delegates in the ongoing Climate Change gathering in Dubai.
Obi, who made the condemnation ib his X, @PeterObi, lamented that the vast majority of those in the Nigerian delegation were either non-relevant civil servants or relations, friends and hangers-on of high government officials.
He said that the irony was that most of them in the delegation hardly understand or have anything to do with Climate Change.
Also read: Don’t succumb to hardship, Obi tells Nigerian youths
Decrying the situation, Obi said, “In a twist of sad irony, let me congratulate the giant of Africa, Nigeria, for matching the great China, with the same number of contingents at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Nigeria’s contingent to COP28 totaled 1,411, the same number as the Chinese contingents.
“While China’s budget for 2024 is about $4 trillion, about $2,860 per head; Nigeria’s budget is about $33 billion, about $165 per head. China has a high Human Development Index, HDI, with a ranking of 79 out of 191 countries measured, and Nigeria has a low HDI, with a
ranking of 163 out of 191 countries measured.”
Obi also pointed out that Nigeria has more people living in ‘Multi-Dimensional’ poverty than China, despite China having seven times Nigeria’s population.
The Anambra State former governor wondered why the huge contingent at public expense at a time when most Nigerians can hardly afford food and basic needs as a result of economic hardship.
Obi was however optimistic that the trend would change soon.
“I pray earnestly that a day will come soon enough when we can focus on competing with China on productivity and the miracle of
migrating the highest number of its citizens out of poverty over a relatively short time.
“As we have kept emphasizing, we must stop waste as a tradition of our government and nation. We urgently need to cut the cost of governance and invest in production,” he said.
He advised Nigerian leaders to de-emphasize unnecessary ceremony and showmanship as a mode of government behaviour, stressing, “We need to tie spending to necessity and national priority. A New Nigeria is possible.
“We only need to do the reasonable and the necessary –PO.”
valoa2000@yahoo.com
