Obi Applauds Nigeria’s Population Potentials, Decries Government Failure To Harness It For Economic Development

Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has applauded the Nigeria’s population potentials just as he decried leadership failure to harness the opportunity for socioeconomic development of the country.

Obi in a statement to mark the 2024 World Population Day,  on Thursday, noted that the day “reminds us all of the need to address very germane issues of harnessing our population to engender development in the nation.”

According to Obi, “However, challenges of leadership failure have continued to keep our teeming youthful population unproductive, thereby slowing our journey from consumption to production.

“Because we the leaders have not shown commitment to investing in health, education and supporting MSMEs, poverty, crime, unemployment, and inflation, have all remained on the increase while life expectancy, literacy rate, and per capita income have remained on the decrease.

Full text of the statement posted on his X handle, reads:

Today, we join the global community in commemorating World Population Day. It is a day that  reminds us all of the need to address very germane issues of harnessing our population to engender development in the nation.

As the most populous country in Africa and the 6th most populous country in the world, Nigeria remains blessed in human resources, which when fully explored through investments in the 3 most critical areas of human development: health, education and fighting poverty, the country will experience tremendous transformation and development. In Nigeria today, with more than half of the population falling within the productive age bracket of 15 to 64 years, we are reported to have the highest youth population in the world.

However, challenges of leadership failure have continued to keep our teeming youthful population unproductive, thereby slowing our journey from consumption to production.

Because we the leaders have not shown commitment to investing in health, education and supporting MSMEs, poverty, crime, unemployment, and inflation, have all remained on the increase while life expectancy, literacy rate, and per capita income have remained on the decrease.

This day, therefore, provides us with the opportunity to review our population issues about development and see how to leverage our huge population, especially the youths, to drive development throughout the nation.

This we can do by prioritizing their health, and education and supporting their small businesses. By so doing, we will not just have a huge population, but we will take pride in our productive population contributing, in many ways, to the development of the nation.

A New Nigeria is POssible, and within reach! -PO