Obi challenges youths to take charge of their future

Obi

The Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 General Election, Mr. Peter Obi, has challenged Nigerian students to take full ownership of their destiny.

He gave this charge during an unannounced visit and his donation of N30 million to Dominican University Ibadan (Samonda Campus).

Addressing students and faculty, Obi didn’t mince words about the paradox of Nigeria remaining one of the world’s hungriest nations despite 60 per cent of its land being uncultivated. He added that the era of relying on international globalisation has ended, noting that the continent is being told to go back home and develop from the grassroots.

Obi blamed the nation’s struggles not on a lack of resources but on a chronic deficit of competence, capacity, and compassion in leadership, warning that the current levels of poverty and unemployment are not tolerated in any other country.

Using clear examples, the former governor urged students to view agriculture as the new oil. He explained that the Netherlands, a country roughly the size of Niger State, exports more than $130 billion in agricultural products annually, three times what Nigeria earns from oil.

He further contrasted the potential of the Sambisa area with Israel, which exports food despite having a landmass one-third the size of the forest.

“Development doesn’t come with tribe; it comes with knowledge,” Obi insisted that competent leadership is the only way to turn these vast resources into wealth.

The Vice-Chancellor of Dominican University, Professor Jacinta A. Opara, expressed profound gratitude for the N30 million donation, which follows a previous N50 million grant.