A former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, took a swipe at political office holders in the country. The ex-Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections said it is madness for political office holders to have 22 cars in their convoy.
He said as a former governor, he discovered that about 13 cars that rode in his convoy were empty. He spoke Saturday while delivering a lecture at the eight convocation ceremony and award of degrees to students of Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja.
Obi said there was need for government to cut down the cost of governance in the country. “There is no place in the world that I have seen where one man moves around with 22 vehicles. It is madness.
“I used it as a governor. You will not believe it. I used it as a governor until I asked to find out one day how many of the cars people were occupying, and about 13 of the cars were empty.
“So the cars were creating nuisance for the public and making things difficult for the travelling people and in Nigeria that shows you are powerful. You are in power.
“That’s why I said if we are going on this path, there will be collapse. What the government is now doing is to share pension money. This will lead us to nowhere.
He urged Nigerian youths to change the dwindling fortunes of the country through innovations, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Obi said: “Today, Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, followed by South Africa and Egypt. If you combine these countries, their Gross Domestic Product is not up to Apple, an international technology company.
“So Apple is actually worth more than these three African giants. That is what knowledge can do.”
The Vice-Chancellor of Veritas, Prof Hyacinth Ichoku, said the university awarded degrees to 286 graduates, including five Post-graduate students.
He said 25 made a First Class honour in the 2019/2020 academic session.