Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has drawn a sharp contrast between political leadership in Nigeria and the United States.
Obi faulted Nigerian leaders for wasteful displays of power despite managing comparatively smaller budgets.
In a post on X on Thursday, Obi recounted his ongoing three-day trip to the US, where he visited Atlanta, Washington, and Chicago.
He noted that Atlanta, with an annual city budget of about $3 billion, generates more revenue than Nigeria’s national budget, yet its mayor, Andre Dickens, maintains a modest public profile.
Obi said he travelled with Dickens on the same flight from Atlanta to Washington without any special treatment for the mayor. According to him, Dickens boarded and disembarked like every other passenger, without aides carrying bags, announcements, sirens, or entourages.
“In Nigeria, governors, most of whom oversee budgets smaller than Atlanta’s—and even local government chairmen, whose allocations are less than 1% of Atlanta’s, would have constituted a public nuisance with sirens, protocol officers, endless announcements, large entourages, and posters everywhere,” Obi stated.
He argued that Nigerian leaders must change their public conduct and focus more on service delivery, citing Dickens’ commitments to crime reduction, youth opportunities, and a minimum wage of $15 per hour for council workers.
