Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has expressed his disapproval of riots and the destruction of public property while voicing support for peaceful and well-organized protests aimed at addressing leadership issues in Nigeria.
Speaking over the weekend in Onitsha, Anambra, against the backdrop of the anti-Finance Bill protests in Kenya, the former governor of Anambra stated,b“I’m against riots. I’m against destruction of government property. Because that is the same scarce resource we will use to repair them.”
“I’m not against peaceful protest. But it must be for reason and not for interest. Often times here you see protests being to satisfy particular interest. It must be properly articulated and properly directed.
“I recall when people were saying they were protesting against police or any other organisation of the government. I said to them, no. If we have good leadership, their agents can’t be bad. But what happened here is, Nigerians say, our problem is police, our problem is EFCC, our problem is ICPC, our problem is army. No.
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“The problem is leadership. If leaders are competent, have capacity and doing the right the agents will fall in line. That is what want. I want to see these things that are properly organised,” he added.
Obi’s comments came amid ongoing demonstrations across Kenya, sparked by the proposed imposition of a tax on cars, phones, bread, sanitary pads, and other commodities.
Notably, over 20 have been killed in the protests that have lasted for two weeks, forcing President William Ruto to withdraw the controversial bill.
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