Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate for 2023, has said that to be a great leader, you don’t have to have the best schooling, but you do have to be honest and brave about your past.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, the former governor talked about his speech at Princeton University, where he said that people who hold government office need to have their own identity and real credentials. He did say, though, that to be a leader, you don’t need to have the best credentials; you just need to be honest about your past.
Obi said, “When it comes to qualifications, I never said anything about doing this or getting a better degree.” The problem of qualification is about leaders telling the truth and being honest in what they say and do. It’s a matter of honor and honesty. It’s the basis on which you build society.
“If you look at what’s going on in Nigeria right now, you’ll see that the leaders are all over the place lying about things like credentials, ages, and all sorts of other things.” It is impossible for people to do this and also do the right things because that would mean they are lying about their lives, which is morally wrong and a bad example for society.
The LP candidate then talked about how some great world leaders and innovators didn’t have good educational backgrounds, even dropping out of school, but went on to do great things that changed the world. They said, “You don’t need all the degrees in the world to be great, but you need to be honest about your past so we can find you and follow your progress.” Many great people in the world didn’t go to school or have a good background, which made them great.
“We are at a point where we are challenging the process. These are part of what makes a nation,” Obi said when asked if he planned to work with Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government to help build the country. The way people get into office, take on responsibility, or achieve something is much more important than what they do afterward. People should enter through the correct door and not the window.
“Again, when it comes to working, even opposition is part of the process of building the right government, in my opinion.” What’s important is that we are still questioning the way this government was formed.