The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has decried the rate of kidnapping in the country with about 700 persons held captive in three weeks.
Obi disclosed this on Monday in a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle.
Quoting Financial Times March 12, 2024 publication, Peter Obi described Nigeria’s kidnapping racket as a sign of a failed state.
“In the past 1 year, about 7000 Nigerians have been kidnapped, with about 700 kidnapped in the last 3 weeks, not withstanding the violent crimes and killings that occur in every part of the nation, which must have included us in one of the world’s riskiest countries to live in.
“A report by the globally respected publication, Financial Times, on March 12, 2024, described Nigeria’s kidnapping racket as a sign of a failed state. With all of these happening in our nation, how then can we attract foreign investors, and retain the confidence of local investors?” The statement partly reads.
Lamenting the economic hardship Nigerians have to bear, the former governor of Anambra State said “We have become one of the hungriest nations in the world and one of the most difficult nations in the world to live in, with food prices constantly going out of the reach of most Nigerians.
“Power supply is abysmally poor and Nigerians are now mostly in total darkness, as over 60% are without power supply. Even those in perceived privileged areas now go for days without power supply.
“A 2022 Energy Progress Report designated Nigeria as the country with the largest number of people lacking access to electricity with 92 million of its over 200 million population living without electricity. About 80 percent of our primary healthcare centres are not functional. The cost of medical treatments and medicines have gone beyond the reach of most Nigerians.
“We now hold the enviable position of having the highest number of out of school children, with about 20 million out-of-school children. We need to take our children off the streets and give them access to basic education.”
Concluding his statement Obi urged both the executive and the legislative arm of government to make necessary sacrifice in order to pull the nation out of its dire state.
