At the fourth convocation ceremony of Nexford University, an online institution based in the United States, Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, shared insights on Nigeria’s leadership challenges, emphasising that his commitment to the country’s progress supersedes personal ambitions for power.
Obi, speaking to the graduating class, expressed that while he is not driven by a personal desire for the presidency, he is deeply passionate about seeing the country succeed.
He criticised the current state of leadership in Nigeria, labeling it as an “imposition on the people” that has hindered the nation’s potential.
Urging the graduates to adopt a servant leadership mindset, Obi highlighted the importance of humility, dedication, and vision in sparking the transformation Nigeria desperately needs.
“True leadership comes from the ability to serve and inspire change,” Obi said, calling on the new generation to lead with integrity and purpose.
Despite his political setbacks, Obi’s commitment to igniting change in Nigeria remains unwavering.
“I am not desperate to become president,” he affirmed, “but I am desperate to see Nigeria work for its people.”
“All of these that we are saying is for you to use it and ignite that change and support. It is not for you to start saying ‘I want to be in charge. I want to do this. I want to do that’,” he said.
“When people say I am desperate I say ‘No’. I am not desperate to be Nigeria’s president’. I am desperate to see Nigeria work because it can work.”
He said Nigerian youths must help to reignite the “right leadership that the country requires for development”.
“James Robinson, one of the Nobel laureates in economics, last year said it openly that Nigeria is a country that knows what to do to prosper and refuses to do it,” Obi added.
“How can you allow drivers and people who are at their destinations to drive you? You will lose. They have passed their destinations. They have passed their time.
“That is what you should help to reignite. Use what you have henceforth to help us change the society. Do not go and be part of this. You are a victim of Nigeria. Because our age and the one before refused to do what is right and we are suffering for it.”
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) picked Obi as his running mate in the 2019 presidential election.
Four years later, Obi contested for the presidential office under the LP but polled third behind Abubakar and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
