Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, compared leadership in Nigeria and the US, criticising Nigerian officials for flashy displays of power despite having much smaller budgets.
In a post on X on Thursday, Obi recounted his ongoing three-day trip to the US, which took him to Atlanta, Washington, and Chicago.
He noted that Atlanta, with a city budget of around $3 billion, generates more revenue than Nigeria’s national budget, yet its mayor, Andre Dickens, maintains a modest public profile.
Obi revealed that he travelled with Mayor Dickens on the same flight from Atlanta to Washington and observed no special treatment for the mayor.
“He boarded and disembarked like every other passenger, without aides carrying bags, announcements, sirens, or entourages,” Obi said.
He further contrasted this with Nigeria, stating: “In Nigeria, governors—most of whom oversee budgets smaller than Atlanta’s—and even local government chairmen, whose allocations are less than 1% of Atlanta’s, would have constituted a public nuisance with sirens, protocol officers, endless announcements, large entourages, and posters everywhere.”
Obi argued that Nigerian leaders must change their public conduct and focus on service delivery, pointing to Dickens’ priorities of crime reduction, youth empowerment, and a minimum wage of $15 per hour for council workers as examples of effective, humble leadership.