- Obi wondered why the government will spend N21 billion to build a mansion for the Vice-President while 24 million Nigerians do have a roof over their heads
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, Peter Obi has likened Nigeria’s parlous and precarious situation to the infamous titanic ship that sank in 1912.
Obi explained that, just like how the wealthy and influential on the titanic ship were oblivious to the imminent catastrophy coming their way as they luxuriated and revelled on the upper deck, Nigerian elites and leaders are also living flamboyantly and extravagantly while Nigeria is sinking from the sheer weight of many unresolved protracted challenges.
Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Wednesday, Obi said the president Bola Tinubu administration is not leading by example, saying the actions and decisions of his government do no reflect the troubling situation of things in the country.
Obi wondered why the government will spend N21 billion to build a mansion for the Vice-President while 24 million Nigerians do have a roof over their heads.
Obi said, “The first thing you do as a leader who inherited a difficult situation is to lead by example, and it starts by your own style, your behaviour, your conduct, how you manage resources. You cannot say that things are difficult when you’re living in conspicuous consumption.
“Nigeria today is the country with the highest amount of people without homes – over 24 million, yet you’re spending twenty-something billion to build a house for one person.”
The former presidential candidate likened Nigeria’s situation to a pilot and an airplane going through turbulence.
He said, “You’re supposed to show a clear plan, it is not enough to say we’re going to go through problems. If we’re going to go through problems, this is very simple.
“You enter a plane, there is a bad weather, there’s going to be a turbulence. The pilot says, we’re going to go through bad weather, it’s going to take us maybe one hour, two hours because of this weather, and he follows it through.
“That is not the time- in that bad weather, everybody, even the crew, are asked to sit down. That’s not the time to start serving food and wine and everything when everything is up and down.
“I always say what happened to the Titanic is what is happening in Nigeria. While it was going down, people on the upper deck were busy dancing until the whole thing collapsed, that’s what is happening now.
“We should change and do things rightly. We can change and manage corruption and everything and all that.”
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