{"id":95250,"date":"2025-10-01T20:42:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95250"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:57:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:57:33","slug":"nigeria-at-65-obi-kalu-disagree-with-tinubus-claims-warn-of-decline-urge-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95250","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria at 65: Obi, Kalu disagree with Tinubu&#8217;s claims, warn of decline, urge reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As Nigeria marks its 65th Independence Anniversary, two prominent voices \u2014 former Labour Party presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi and renowned economist and former Minister of Finance Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu \u2014 have issued sobering assessments of the country&#8217;s current state, warning that despite the symbolism of the day, Nigeria remains dangerously off course.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"feBN7OA4AF\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/2025\/10\/01\/on-nigerias-inpendence-day-president-tinubu-waxes-optimistic-says-the-worst-is-over-highlights-economic-recovery-security-gains\/\">On Nigeria&#8217;s Independence Day, President Tinubu waxes optimistic, says &#8220;the worst is over&#8221;, highlights economic recovery, security gains<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;On Nigeria&#8217;s Independence Day, President Tinubu waxes optimistic, says &#8220;the worst is over&#8221;, highlights economic recovery, security gains&#8221; &#8212; Everyday.ng\" src=\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/2025\/10\/01\/on-nigerias-inpendence-day-president-tinubu-waxes-optimistic-says-the-worst-is-over-highlights-economic-recovery-security-gains\/embed\/#?secret=dZTEKHfcCw#?secret=feBN7OA4AF\" data-secret=\"feBN7OA4AF\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In a statement commemorating the anniversary, Mr. Obi lamented the erosion of Nigeria&#8217;s economic strength, democratic integrity, and human development under the current All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration. He called for urgent action to rescue the nation from what he described as the &#8220;tragic failures of leadership&#8221; that have derailed the hopes of Nigeria&#8217;s founding fathers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday should be a day of joy,\u201d Obi began, recalling Nigeria\u2019s promising beginnings as an independent African power in 1960. \u201cBut instead, it is a day of deep reflection. Nigeria has been greatly diminished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Citing troubling statistics, Obi painted a bleak picture: national debt ballooning to N175 trillion \u2014 nearly 50% of GDP \u2014 without corresponding improvements in infrastructure or productivity; over 15 million Nigerians pushed into poverty in the past year alone; and more than 150 million citizens lacking access to basic healthcare, education, and clean water. He decried a leadership culture focused on \u201cbrutal revenue-driven policies\u201d and luxury spending at the expense of essential public services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Vice President\u2019s residence was renovated at a cost of N25 billion \u2014 more than the combined capital budgets of six major university teaching hospitals,\u201d Obi said. \u201cAt the same time, Nigerians pay more for electricity, food, and healthcare, while receiving less.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former Anambra State governor warned that despite Nigeria\u2019s vast natural and human resources, continued fiscal irresponsibility and insecurity have made the country one of the most terrorised and unattractive places for investors. However, he remained hopeful that with competent and compassionate leadership, Nigeria could rise again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must end a system where leaders feast while the people starve,\u201d Obi said. \u201cThe old politics must end, and a new politics of prosperity for all must begin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Echoing Obi\u2019s concerns, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu offered a more technical critique in a recent interview on Arise Television, challenging President Bola Tinubu\u2019s claim in his Independence Day broadcast that Nigeria has \u201cturned the corner\u201d economically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurning the corner is a very risky concept,\u201d Dr. Kalu cautioned. \u201cWe should not delude ourselves. We need to take stock realistically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While acknowledging the President\u2019s efforts to inspire confidence, Dr. Kalu emphasized that meaningful recovery remains elusive unless deep structural issues \u2014 particularly in power, security, infrastructure, and governance \u2014 are urgently addressed.<\/p>\n<p>Kalu outlined 11 priority areas requiring urgent reform, from youth employment to constitutional restructuring. On unemployment, he noted that promises of job creation must be matched by actual investment in agriculture, manufacturing, and vocational training \u2014 sectors that have suffered from decades of policy inconsistency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t just solve unemployment at the macro level by promising more jobs,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to revive industries and ensure our youths are equipped with the skills to build their own future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former minister highlighted Nigeria\u2019s stagnant power sector and crumbling railway infrastructure as two glaring obstacles to development. \u201cUntil we fix rail and power \u2014 the foundations of any economy \u2014 progress will remain elusive,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the criticisms, both leaders were unified in their belief that Nigeria&#8217;s potential remains vast and recoverable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNigerians excel all over the world,\u201d Kalu said. \u201cBut we must build the right structures at home to harness that potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Together, Obi and Kalu&#8217;s remarks serve as a stark counterpoint to official Independence Day rhetoric, underscoring growing concern among thought leaders about the nation\u2019s direction. Their messages call for urgent reforms, honest leadership, and a national rededication to the values of accountability, equity, and sustainable development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Nigeria marks its 65th Independence Anniversary, two prominent voices \u2014 former Labour Party presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi and renowned economist and former Minister of Finance Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu \u2014 have issued sobering assessments of the country&#8217;s current state, warning that despite the symbolism of the day, Nigeria remains dangerously off course. On [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5809,7],"tags":[2365,471,1546],"class_list":["post-95250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-celebration","category-news","tag-independence","tag-kalu","tag-obi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}