Peter Obi links insecurity in Africa to unemployment

Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, has linked Africa’s security challenges to widespread poverty, noting that over 50% of the continent’s population is affected by multidimensional poverty.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, made this statement on Saturday while addressing an international gathering of global leaders in Athens, the capital of Greece. The event included participation from former Presidents and high-ranking government officials.

In his remarks, Obi highlighted unemployment, corruption, poverty, and inequality as the major factors undermining security and peaceful coexistence across Africa.

“I joined global leaders, former presidents, prime ministers, serving and retired senior government officials, military chiefs, renowned academics, and sports personalities in leadership dialogue focused on governance.

“This is particularly in the areas of security and the economy in today’s world, and the lessons for future leaders.

“In my brief presentation, I emphasised that as leaders, we must acknowledge the profound global and generational transformations confronting us,” he said.

“In Africa, we face high levels of insecurity, alarming corruption, worsening poverty, huge youth unemployment, and gross inequality.

“Non-state actors have now taken over the security in some African nations, furthermore, many African countries under-invest in critical areas of development, such as health and education.

“Future African leaders must take bold, accelerated, just, and transformative actions to achieve far-reaching, people-centred development,” he added.

He emphasized the necessity for leaders to directly confront insecurity and to instill confidence in citizens regarding the state’s capacity to ensure safety without being compromised by non-state actors.

Obi pointed out that corruption must be addressed decisively, urging leaders to invest in crucial development sectors such as health and education. He stressed the importance of tackling poverty, unemployment, hunger, and other urgent societal issues.

According to Obi, Nigeria possesses all the resources required to pursue this path, and he reaffirmed the commitment to guiding the nation toward a better future.

(Vanguard)