The Labour Party 2023 Presidential candidate, Peter Ob has described food donated to Nigeria by war-torn Ukraine as a national shame.
This comes days after the Eastern European country donated 25,000 tonnes of wheat as emergency food aid to 1.3 million vulnerable people in Nigeria and its crisis-hit northeast.
The food donation is said to be part of a humanitarian initiative by the country and the President of Ukraine.
But on Monday, Obi took to his official X handle to thank Ukraine for helping to fight the famine in Nigeria despite the political situation.
He said,” that the country’s generosity is a sign of common humanity and added that this gesture should earn Ukraine greater global solidarity. However, the former governor of Anambra State blamed the Federal Government for the current state of the Nigerian economy. He said it was disheartening that Nigeria, once economically secure and blessed with vast rural areas and abundant natural resources, was now dependent on war-torn Ukraine for food aid.
Obi attributed the donation to the failure of Nigeria’s leadership over the years, saying it is embarrassing that Nigeria receives food from a country with less people and less land.
He said “This national disgrace is the result of years of leadership failure, which requires urgent reflection and realignment of our national priorities and the management and allocation of resources. Instructively, Ukraine with a population of 43 million with an area of 603,728 km2 is ahead of Northern Nigeria with an area of 744,249 km2 and a young energetic population of more than 100 million. 2015. In 2008, Ukraine had a GDP per capita of $2,125, while Nigeria had a GDP of $2,680. By 2022, Ukraine’s GDP per capita exceeded $4,000, while Nigeria’s GDP was $2,184 despite the war. Ukraine cultivates more than 60 percent of its agricultural land, while Nigeria has more than 60 percent of uncultivated land. Despite the conflict, Ukraine feeds itself, exporting more than $25 billion of agricultural products, roughly equal to our gross export earnings, and acts as a global strategic food supplier, even providing aid to peaceful but unproductive Nigeria.
He therefore called on the Federal Government to aggressively invest resources in agriculture and address the insecurity so that farmers can return to their fields. According to him, this would reverse the current recession and increase productivity in four to five years.
