Peter Obi Says Nigeria Has More Poor People Than China, Indonesia, And Vietnam Combined

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, has linked the country’s underdevelopment and growing poverty to the consistent failure of its political leadership over the years. During a lecture on “Politics and Change in Nigeria” at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, Obi highlighted that Nigeria now has more people living in poverty than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam combined.

The lecture, delivered at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, author of “Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria,” underscored Obi’s perspective that the quality of leadership is crucial to a nation’s progress. He expressed concern over the stark contrast between Nigeria’s immense potential and its actual development, attributing much of the nation’s struggles to ineffective governance.

Through the lecture, Obi reiterated his belief that transformative leadership is key to unlocking Nigeria’s growth and addressing the widespread poverty affecting millions of Nigerians.

“The failure of a nation depends largely on its Political Leadership. Competent, capable and compassionate political leadership, with integrity, will help nations to achieve sustainable growth and development,” he said.

Peter Obi compared Nigeria’s progress over the past 35 years to China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, noting that while these countries have advanced in human development, Nigeria has regressed due to ineffective leadership and poor governance.

“In 1990, the year the measurement of the Human Development Index (HDI) was started, these 3 comparable nations, including Nigeria, were all classified under the medium category… 35 years later, 3 of these nations have moved up to the High category of HDI while Nigeria has fallen into the low category,” he stated.

“As of 1990, while Nigeria had a GDP per capita of $556, China had $317, Indonesia had $578, and Vietnam had only $99… Today, Nigeria’s per capita is about one-fifth of Indonesia’s ($5000) and Vietnam’s ($4400) GDP per capita and below one-tenth of China’s ($13,000),” he said.

“In 1990… China had about 750 million people living in poverty… Today, however, Nigeria has more poor people than these 3 countries combined,” he lamented.

According to Obi, the distinguishing factor in the progress made by these countries lies in their political leadership’s commitment to development-focused policies.

“These comparable nations, and indeed other progressive nations, unlike Nigeria, have competent leadership with character, capacity and compassion, committed to prioritizing investment in critical areas of developmental measures; Education, Health, and pulling people out of poverty,” he explained.

Obi reaffirmed his optimism about Nigeria’s potential, stating that meaningful change is still achievable.

“A new Nigeria is possible”