Amidst the food price hike and economic hardship besetting the nation, the government of Ukraine recently donated 25,000 tonnes of wheat as emergency food assistance to 1.3 million vulnerable, crisis-affected people in Nigeria’s northeastern region, a development which Mr Peter Obi has now described as disheartening.
Obi who is the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate in the last election says while the gesture from Ukraine is laudable, it speaks volumes as to the failures of the Nigerian government to cater for its people.
In a thread posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Mr Obi asserted that this development underscores a national disgrace that “stems from years of leadership failure, necessitating urgent reflection and a reordering of our national priorities and resource management and allocation”.
According to him, this act of human solidarity testifies to a rare generosity of spirit of the people of Ukraine, one which obi says should earn them greater global solidarity.
However, the former Anambra State Governor stressed that a situation like this emphasizes vigorously the importance of sound political leadership as the first concrete requirement for any nation desiring to develop and enhance the standard of living of its citizenry.
In his view, it is disheartening that Nigeria which once was an economically confident nation, blessed with vast arable land and abundant natural resources, now relies on a war-torn Ukraine for food assistance.
