The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last general elections, Peter Obi, has charged African leaders on deployment of globalisation in solving the problems of the continent.
Obi made the call on Monday while speaking at Cambridge University, United Kingdom (UK) on “Roles of African leaders in Promoting Global and Social Responsibility”, organised by Angela Ruskin University Nigerian Students Association, Cambridge University Nigerian Society and Obidient Movement, UK.
He urged the leaders to deliver their electioneering promises to bring about needed development. “Some of them renege on their promises. Imagine someone saying, what I saw when I was campaigning is not what I saw in office, saying the debt is too much. They forgot that that is why they were elected to come and fix it. These people have hired them to clear the mess.
“There has to be a global person who knows in that shoe, when he understands that, he will look at the global perspective in solving the problem. When people talk about development I say there are no two ways to do it. Development is a global term and it’s measurable globally.
“The same thing you need to develop the system or countries in Asia, America, South America, the same thing you need in Africa, is measured by the same thing –human development index. Any other thing you like to do,” he said.
He urged African leaders to invest in human development, saying that for a leader to be a global leader, he or she needed to promote global citizens. Saying this is a measurable yardstick that is there for everybody.
“One is health, I’m providing the facilities that promote health –life expectancy, is it getting better or worse. Second is education, are we improving in education? Are we pulling people out of poverty? If you’re not doing that, you’re not doing anything and that you can see, it is in Africa,” he said.
