The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party during the 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria, Mr Peter Obi on Thursday, said the call to sacrifice for the country must first be heeded to by the nation’s leaders.
According to him, the leaders of the country cannot continue to advise the very poor people to sacrifice for the good of the country without doing the same.
Obi stated this yesterday, when he attended the funeral service for former Dean Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Late Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa at the Cathedral Church of St Faith, Awka.
He was responding when journalists sought his reaction to the trending video of a very long convoy of President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
In the video which saw the narrator hailing the president as he arrived Lagos for the Eid-El Kabir celebrations, over 124 vehicles were seen in the president’s convoy.
The video has sparked criticisms from Nigerians, who believe in a time when the people are being made to suffer severe hardship due to stringent economic policies of the Federal Government, the President should not be seen living such flamboyance.
Obi, who maintained that he hasn’t seen the said video when our reporter asked him about it, insisted that the condition of the country is such that requires the leaders to lead by example.
“The present Nigeria requires that all those who serve and lead must do so by example. Their behavior, character and conduct must be in consonance with what the society demands today.
“We cannot continue to preach to the people to sacrifice without sacrificing.
“The sacrifice must now start from the leaders visibly, measurably at all time,” he said.
According to him, the people are suffering and the leaders cannot afford to insulate themselves while the hardship takes its toll on the masses.
On the late Anikwenwa, Obi described him as a great Nigerian and Igbo son, who made valuable contributions to the cause of humanity.
“Anikwenwa lived a purposeful life and left indelible marks in the sands of time. Beyond his pastoral work, he did so many things to advance the cause of humanity and I am not surprised at what is going on here today, especially with the calibre of people that gathered to bid him farewell,” Obi said.
