Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the Feb. 25, 2023 election, has urged blacks to deploy their abundant natural resources and talents to shade off the slave trade effect.
Obi, the former governor of Anambra , made this known in a statement by his media aide, Michael Nwolisa in Lagos on Sunday.
Obi stated this in England as a guest at the Celebration of Black History Month by the black community at Oxford University.
The former governor said the time had come for Africa and the black community to engage in productive activities, good governance, and purposeful leadership.
Obi who shared ideas with the black community, reminded them that life, irrespective of color, race, or tribe, should be about building a better society.
According to him, it is also about making humanity better, recalling this was what motivated him to enter politics.
The former governor noted that he joined politics leaving his lucrative business, to serve the public not minding the huge loss available.
He said: “I relayed to them my experience in 2001 while taking an Executive Management Course at Kellogg School of Management.
“A personal encounter I had with Prof Donald Jacobs, the School Dean, which eventually motivated me to join politics back home in Nigeria, to help build a better nation for all.
“Looking back in time, not minding the bold challenges I have faced, I am grateful for all I have accomplished, especially the positive changes I have engendered in the nation.
“Especially in the areas of health, education, and pulling people out of poverty.
He reminded them that Africa needs to invest heavily in education and utilize its energetic youth populations.”
Obi said Africa should not be attending the summit asking for concessions, pointing out that the era of tokenism for Africa had passed.
He said Africa with a landmass of 30.3 million km² and a population of over 1.4 billion people, continued to fall short economically, far below Europe.
The LP standard bearer said with a landmass of 10.18 million km² and a population of about 746 million, Africa would rise and enjoy development and progress.
Obi said further that with a land mass of Europe of 1,152,000km almost the same as Nigeria with 923,000km Nigeria with a youthful population should be more productive but was hindered by poor leadership.
He said development was a journey, adding that time was when Europe faced similar challenges, as they faced today but tackled by engaging in productive activities.
The LP standard bearer said Nigeria, and indeed, Africa needed only committed ethical leadership to lead it on the path of development.
Obi noted that the three biggest economies in Europe, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France with a population of about 216m have a GDP almost 25 times the GDP of Nigeria with an almost similar population.
“Germany has 4.4 trillion dollars with a land mass of 349, 223km, plus a population of about 84m and France has a GDP of 3.049 trillion dollars and 551695km land mass, plus a population of about 54m the UK has a GDP of 3.3 trillion dollars, a land mass of 243,610km with a population of about 67m while Nigeria has a land mass of 923 769km and a GDP of $489.80 billion,” he said.
Obi told his audience that what this meant was that what was lacking in Nigeria and many African countries was a lack of productivity.
He added that this arising from poor and focused political leadership which Africa should strive to achieve and take their destiny into their own hands and stop looking for tokens from areas not as blessed as the continent.