Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25, 2023 election, has urged blacks to deploy their abundant natural resources and talents to shade off the slave trade effect.
Mr Obi spoke as a guest at the Celebration of Black History Month by the black community at Oxford University, England, according to a statement by his media aide Michael Nwolisa on Sunday.
The former governor said the time had come for Africa and the black community to engage in productive activities, good governance, and purposeful leadership.
Mr Obi, who shared ideas with the black community, reminded them that life, irrespective of colour, race, or tribe, should be about building a better society.
The former governor noted that he joined politics, leaving his lucrative business to serve the public, not minding the huge loss available.
He said Africa, with a landmass of 30.3 million km² and a population of over 1.4 billion people, continued to fall short economically, far below Europe.
The LP standard bearer said with a landmass of 10.18 million km² and a population of about 746 million, Africa would rise and enjoy development and progress.
Mr Obi said further that with a land mass of Europe of 1,152,000km, almost the same as Nigeria with 923,000km, Nigeria, with a youthful population, should be more productive but needed better leadership.
The LP standard bearer said Nigeria, and indeed, Africa needed only committed ethical leadership to lead it on the development path.
Mr Obi noted that the three biggest economies in Europe, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, with a population of about 216m, have a GDP almost 25 times the GDP of Nigeria, with a practically similar population.
“Germany has 4.4 trillion dollars with a land mass of 349,223km, plus a population of about 84m and France has a GDP of 3.049 trillion dollars and 551695km land mass, plus a population of about 54m the UK has a GDP of 3.3 trillion dollars, a land mass of 243,610km with a population of about 67m while Nigeria has a land mass of 923 769km and a GDP of $489.80 billion,” he stated.
Mr Obi told his audience that what this meant was that what was lacking in Nigeria and many African countries was productivity.
(NAN)
