Peter Obi | File Image
Obi: 70% of Nigeria’s wealth is controlled by 1%
By Valentine Amanze
Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has appealed to the wealthy Nigerians to assist the poor in the provision of water, education and other basic necessities.
Obi said that with the current economic hardship in the country it would be difficult for the poor to meet up with their basic needs.
Obi, who made the plea at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, also announced the completion of the completion of 10 boreholes, which he built in some states of the North for a short-term water supply for the poor.
The Anambra State former governor explained that his plea to the rich was necessary because 70 per cent of the wealth of Nigeria was being controlled by about one per cent of the citizens, stressing, “If point one per cent (.1%) of the population i.e about 200,000 rich Nigerians can deploy their resources for the basic needs of the poor in our midst, the situation will not be as deplorable.”
He also called on the government to ensure that resource deployment was aimed at improving the living standards of the poor and pulling them out of poverty.
Peter Obi donating borehole recently to Sokoto community that lacks water. | File Image
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Obi said that his plea in the two areas – water and education – derived from his discoveries after a tour of some areas in the country that the poor were really suffering and abandoned.
His words: “If 200,000 rich Nigerians join me to do the same in the area of their choice, it would go a long way to solve the water needs of the poor.”
On education, Obi said that the potential he found out mingling with almajiris in the Quranic schools in the North moved him to tears how brilliant the children are but needed adequate support to develop them to grow to be catalysts of development.
“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.,” he said.
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