The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi has said Nigeria’s past national tragedies should be transformed into opportunqities for national development rather than allowed to continue dividing the country.
Obi made the statement while responding to concerns from some Nigerians over his appearance on Arise News, where he was asked questions about the 1966 coups.
The former two term Anambra State governor said he was prepared to answer questions on any issue concerning Nigeria, stressing that as a presidential candidate, he had a responsibility to remain accessible to the people.
“As a presidential candidate, I am ready and able to answer any questions about anything relating to Nigeria. I have a commitment to serve the people, not to hide from them,” Obi said.
He said his travels across the country and interactions with Nigerians from different ethnic and religious backgrounds had given him the opportunity to reflect on the various tragedies that have shaped the nation’s history.
According to Obi, these include the 1966 coups, the Nigerian Civil War and various incidents of mass violence recorded in different parts of the country.
According to him, many of the tragedies could have been avoided if laws had been entrenched and implemented justly, blaming leadership failure for the inability to guarantee equal rights and freedoms to all citizens.
“My view is that we could have avoided these tragedies if we had entrenched and implemented laws justly. These tragedies are the result of leadership failure. It is our responsibility to understand these failures and fix them,” he said.
Obi maintained that Nigeria must learn from its history rather than remain trapped by it, arguing that mistakes and traumatic experiences can become catalysts for national transformation.
He cited Japan, South Korea and China as examples of countries that, according to him, leveraged difficult historical experiences to pursue economic and institutional transformation.
Obi also referenced Rwanda, saying Nigeria could learn from how the East African country has sought to use the memory of its tragic past to promote national unity and development.
For Nigeria, Obi said the priority should be to build leadership that focuses on issues that unite citizens rather than those that deepen ethnic, religious and other divisions.
“For me, my responsibility as Nigerian President is to turn the pains and tragedies of the past into opportunities to make Nigeria united, stable, and prosperous,” he said.
The NDC presidential candidate said Nigeria needed leaders who believe in the country’s potential and recognise that every part of the nation possesses human and natural resources capable of contributing to economic growth.
He added that leadership should not exploit historical experiences for selfish political ambitions but should use them as lessons for building a prosperous future.
Obi further promised to engage with issues that Nigerians consider important, saying he was prepared to confront difficult aspects of the country’s history while working towards a more inclusive future.
“I am ready to speak about what the voters consider important. I am ready to comfort and console. I am ready to lead from the front as we work to turn away from the ugly past and into a future where no Nigerian will suffer on account of his or her ethnicity, religion, or social pedigree,” he said.
He concluded that Nigeria’s history should serve as a resource for transformation rather than a permanent source of division.
“Our past is important, but our past is not our destiny. Our future is what we do with our past. Our past is our resource for national transformation. We are ready to transform Nigeria,” Obi said.