The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Presidential election, Peter Obi, has reacted to the viral video of the long convoy of President Bola Tinubu in Lagos on Wednesday, indicating that leaders who ask followers to sacrifice for a better Nigeria must also lead by example.
Obi spoke against the background of the outrage being expressed by Nigerians over the outlandish display of power by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu during a recent visit to Lagos State.
He spoke on Thursday at St Faith Cathedral, Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Awka, during the burial Mass of the late Dean Emeritus of the Church of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Maxwell Anikwenwa, who died at 83.
According to him, there was a need to cut down on the cost of governance, which has always been his position about governance.
Obi, who said he had not seen the viral video of the motorcade, spoke like many other critics of the president on the same matter, describing it as absurd
He said: “I have not seen the video you talked about, but let me tell you what I have always said: that present Nigeria requires that all those who serve and lead must do so by example.
“The behavior, character, and public conduct of those who serve must be in consonance with what society requires today. You can not continue to preach to the people to sacrifice without sacrificing.
“The sacrifice must start with the leaders, visibly, measurably at all times, because the people are suffering and we must all be at the forefront of the suffering.”
Obi, while speaking on the life of the late Archbishop Anikwenwa, said: “He is not just a pastor of God, but a great Nigerian who contributed to this country beyond his pastoral work in building a better Nigeria.
“He is involved in advocating for a better Nigeria, good governance, and others. He was a great Nigerian and a great Igbo man, and I am not surprised about the number of people at [this] burial ceremony today.”
A statement from the Obi-Datti media organization, which was signed by Diran Onifade, pointed out that not since the creation of Nigeria by the British has such mindless and embarrassing exhibition been purveyed by a politician.
“Not even the military known for their brash and unbridled display of raw naked power dared to exhibit such recklessness.
“The present Nigeria requires that all those who serve and lead must do so by example. Their behavior and their public conduct must be in consonance with what society requires today.
“We can not continue to preach for the people to sacrifice without sacrificing, too. The sacrifice must now start from the leaders, visibly, measurably at all times because the people are suffering; and we must now be at the forefront of the suffering”, Obi said.
Obi’s call for sacrifice by Nigerian leaders is coming about two weeks after Asiwaju Tinubu in a Democracy Day address on June 12, 2023, called on Nigerians to sacrifice more in the wake of the removal of subsidy on petrol by the federal government, which had not only pushed the cost of petrol up but had equally led to skyrocketing prices of goods and services.
“The Obi-Datti Media like millions of Nigerians whose sense of decency have been affronted by Asiwaju Tinubu’s unbridled tendency to flaunt power and position, joins our presidential candidate in pointing the hypocrisy inherent in Tinubu’s action.
“For a man who promised to cut the cost of governance to be moving around with an over-bloated convoy of security details and aides, surely speaks volumes of his “do what I say and not what I do” attitude.