The presidential standard bearer of Labour Party and former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, who just returned from a three-day trip to Egypt, has said he went to Egypt to understudy the country’s power and educational system in order to implement same in Nigeria, if voted into power in 2023.
Obi who granted a radio interview in Nigeria, shortly after he returned to the country, said he was pleased with the development in the power and education sectors in Egypt, insisting that from what he learnt in Egypt, he was convinced that if implemented in Nigeria, the county would be able to increase its power generation, distribution and transmission from the current state to over 20,000 megawatts within a space of five years.
According to Obi, “Past leaders are always blaming their predecessors for their inability to perform creditably. A truly elected leader is not supposed to complain, but to take charge to solve challenges.
“A leader must learn new things in order to have fresh ideas that will help him deliver on his promises to the people, and that was the reason I went to Egypt to understudy their educational and power generation and distribution system. The world over, Egypt, Vietnam and China are leading in power generation and distribution.”
Obi further said: “Egypt, within a space of five years moved their power from about 20,000 megawatts to 58,000 megawatts as of today.
“In the 60s, Nigeria was generating over 1,000 megawatts and 50 years down the line, Nigeria cannot generate more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity, which is a challenge for Nigeria. So we need to learn from Egypt how they have been able to manage and grow their electricity generation and distribution, and that was one of the reasons I visited Egypt.
“When I got to Egypt, I was taken round its power facilities and I met the companies handling their electricity project, those in the power sector and those who financed the electricity project in Egypt. From what I saw I am convinced that Nigeria can also increase power generation, distribution and transmission from the current stage to over 20,000 megawatts in a space of five years.”
Nigerian leaders must always learn because leadership and learning and inseparable, Obi said, and further explained that while he was campaigning for governor in Anambra State, he travelled to Bangladesh to study how to move a state out of poverty and that when he eventually became governor of Anambra State, I used what he learnt to build rural roads and bridges that connected the rural areas of Anambra to able the people have access to agricultural goods and services.
“I was able to bring the people of Anambra State out of poverty. So my visit to Egypt will also help me to use what I learnt from Egypt to boost power generation to 20,000 megawatts in five years,” Obi said.
He explained that he was already talking to a lot of partners that would enable him to build a coalition of people that would revive Nigeria again.
“Millions of Nigerians are living in poverty and the number is increasing. So we need coalition that will re-build Nigeria,” Obi said.
Speaking about his plan when he becomes president of Nigeria, Obi said: “My plan is to ensure that Nigeria is re-built and that every borrowed fund must be invested. There will be transparency in my government. We have challenges in our educational system and we will fix it, just the way I did when I was governor of Anambra State.
“We have challenge of poverty and we will bring out Nigeria out of poverty. Subsidy is fraud and should be discouraged and we will deal with it when we come into power. To remove subsidy, there must be something to replace it, and that is the reason why leaders must always learn.”
In the area of insecurity, Obi said: “I have condemned insecurity across the country and it is an accumulation of leadership failures over the years. If the past governments were serious about security, insecurity that has degenerated into kidnapping and killings would have long stopped.
“We need to increase the number of police in the country and each state will be able to control its police force, thereby creating state police to address insecurity in the country. The more government pull people out of poverty, the more government will reduce insecurity and I will pull Nigerians out of poverty when I become president of Nigeria.
“I will transform Nigeria from consuming nation to a production nation. I will achieve it by supporting small business and provide steady electricity to businesses.”
