Former Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, has once again raised concerns about the growing poverty level in Nigeria.

He compared Nigeria’s situation with countries like China, India, and Vietnam, which have been able to lift millions of people out of poverty by sticking to strong policies and disciplined execution.

Obi made these remarks in Lagos while giving the keynote speech at the first Lagos Business School (LBS) All MBA Students Conference. He shared his views in a post on his official X handle.

Speaking on the topic “Execution as a Competitive Edge,” the former Anambra governor explained that while making plans and strategies is important, they are useless without proper implementation.

According to him, results come from leadership that is competent, responsible, compassionate, and disciplined enough to see policies and strategies through.

Obi pointed to China, India, and Vietnam as examples of countries where good leadership and consistent execution of policies brought real progress during the Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015) and now in the Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030).

He noted that through these efforts, China lifted over 430 million people out of poverty, India lifted 270 million, and Vietnam lifted 45 million, which improved their Human Development Index (HDI).

Sadly, he expressed disappointment that Nigeria and many African countries have not achieved similar results, even though they signed up for the same global development programs.

Obi lamented that while other countries are moving people out of poverty, more Nigerians are slipping into it, with over 130 million citizens now considered multidimensionally poor.