Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has responded to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and others who criticized him for allegedly painting Nigeria in a bad light.

Obi recently spoke at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., where he explained how Nigeria’s economy has declined over the past 25 years. He pointed out that this decline has caused a major rise in poverty across the country.

The former governor of Anambra State stressed that he was simply being honest about the state of the country. He compared Nigeria’s poverty levels to China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, saying Nigeria now has more poor people than all three countries combined.

Obi emphasized that the state of any country depends heavily on the kind of leaders it has. He believes Nigeria’s current problems are largely due to years of poor leadership.

On the other hand, Governor Sanwo-Olu disagreed with Obi’s comments, calling them negative and unhelpful. He said such remarks damage the country’s image, especially when made on international platforms.

Sanwo-Olu further stated that while no one is required to defend the government, well-known Nigerians should speak positively about the country when abroad. He described Obi’s words as “unflattering” and said they don’t reflect patriotism.

In response, Obi spoke again during a memorial lecture in Abuja and stood by his words. He said he didn’t demarket Nigeria but only shared real facts.

Obi questioned if organizations like the World Bank and UNICEF, which have also shared negative statistics about Nigeria’s poverty, are being accused of demarketing too.

He pointed out that the World Bank reported 75% of people in rural Nigeria are poor, and UNICEF recently said Nigeria has over two million malnourished children—one of the highest numbers globally.

Obi concluded by urging Nigerians to accept the truth and focus on solving problems, rather than denying them.