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How I Would Solve Nigeria’s Economic, Security Challenges – Peter Obi Tells CNN
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By Eric Elezuo
The candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, was on Friday hosted by CNN’s Zain Asher, during a programme, Zain Exchange, where he spoke on his desire to tackle headlong the economic and security challenges of Nigeria if elected the president in 2023.
Zane Asher: Mr. Obi thank you so much for being with us. You’re certainly the most popular presidential candidate among young people in Nigeria, there’s so much momentum behind you. But here’s the problem. Nigerians are used to being disappointed by their leaders, and what do you think about some of the problems that are facing the country right now, they are systemic. I’m talking about the corruption, I’m talking about oil theft, I’m talking about insecurity, I’m talking about the fiscal hole that Nigeria is in right now. Can all of that really be solved by one person?
Peter Obi: Well, if you have a leader that is competent, has the capacity and commitment to start dealing with these challenges, you’re not going to solve it overnight, but there will be a clear, visible, measurable attempt to deal with these. And there is nothing that is not solve-able. Some issues just have to be dealt with decisively. But you need to have a capable leader such that when you look at his past records in office, you can say YES – He is capable.
Zane Asher: If you do, indeed, become Nigeria’s next president, Nigeria you know, is broke. It’s barely able to service its debts. It spends so much more that it earns. What are your plans? From a concrete perspective, what are your plans to take Nigeria’s economy off of life support?
Peter Obi: Well, a variety of things. One, is that we have to deal decisively with the issue of insecurity. It’s impacting negatively on our economy. We have to deal with it head on. We have to get our finances right — and start ensuring that the vast lands of the north are invested in and cultivated. We have to start pulling people out of poverty as quickly as possible. We have to immediately reduce aggressively, the cost of governance, and the issue of corruption.
Zane Asher: Anyone who knows anything about Nigeria knows that it has this embarrassing reputation of importing refined fuel, despite the fact that it’s Africa’s largest oil producer. What is your plan for transforming Nigeria’s economy from a consumption economy to a production economy?
Peter Obi: Let me tell you it’s not the issue of refineries not working — there’s no reason why we should not encourage the private sector to operate refineries. It can be done as quickly as possible. We can today, decide to remove the oil subsidies, and use the resources to invest in and support the principal areas of production; from critical infrastructure to education, to supporting investment in refinery, which will be, done in the shortest amount of time.
Zane Asher: A lot of Nigerian presidents have come in and talked about revitalizing the manufacturing sector, investing in refineries, but change, as you know, has been very, very slow. Why is it going to be different with you and what would you say were the biggest hurdles in making sure that all of the things that you just listed come to pass?
Peter Obi: Well, what people need to do is to look at what I promised as the state governor. When I said was going to turn around education, health, pull people out of poverty, bring sanity and civility in governance — did that happen or not?
When I said we were going to save money, did we do that? Yes, we did.
Zane Asher: I want to talk about one of the major issues that Nigeria is dealing with, grappling with right now. That’s violence and insecurity. You can barely travel from one part of Nigeria to another without fearing for your life. I’m talking about kidnapping. I’m talking about banditry. I’m talking about terrorism, I’m talking about Boko Haram. What is your plan for that?
Peter Obi: Initially, what we first have to deal with is the issue of security. Unless you have security, the farmers can’t — you can’t have investment. Nobody will ever want to put or invest money in an insecure country. So we will deal this issue of insecurity decisively. We will start by reorganizing our security architecture. We will then bring in more hands into the security system, and motivate them properly, so that we can defeat the issue of insecurity . It’s the most important thing that Nigeria needs today.
Zane Asher: You and I are both Nigerians, were are both from southeastern Nigeria. It’s a very hard country to hold together. You have too manage about 200 million people, with so many different tribes, so many different ideas. When you think about the fact that you are from the southeast, how easy is it going to be to rally Nigerians from the north behind you? That’s got to be on your mind?
Peter Obi: That was the situation obtainable in the past. We used to elect leaders based on ethnicity, religion, strong connection etc, and that has brought us to the bad situation we are in today. “Our structure”, the structure of criminality, is what we want to dismantle now. We want to ensure that the next election is based on character, capacity, competence, commitment to do the right thing. Nigeria not just in a fiscal mess, it is at the last stage to collapse. The people in the north don’t have a secure place, they don’t have good roads. They don’t buy bread cheaper than those in the South. They people in the south are facing the same issues. All what you hear about ethnicity, religion, connection, is an elite conspiracy to keep Nigeria undeveloped. But now we’ve reached the edge.
Zane Asher: Thank you for coming on our program.
Peter Obi: Thank you for inviting me.
Nigeria’s Flamingos have received a cash reward of $50,000 following their historic triumph at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The reward was presented to the team on Saturday night by Alhaji Saleh Ahmadu, a sponsor of the National Sports Commission (NSC), during a special reception held in their honour.
The event was attended by several top dignitaries, including NSC Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko; Director-General, Honourable Bukola Olopade; and Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
The Flamingos are also expected to receive additional rewards in recognition of their outstanding achievement in Morocco.
Nigeria secured a historic 2-1 victory over Japan in Saturday night’s final in Rabat to emerge champions of the competition for the first time in the nation’s history.
The triumph marks a significant milestone for Nigerian women’s football and further underscores the country’s growing presence on the global stage.
Meanwhile, striker Oluebube Umejiaku has explained how the team recovered from their opening defeat to Poland to win the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Nigeria began their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Poland, despite Umejiaku scoring as a substitute. However, the team bounced back, treating every subsequent fixture as a final on their way to winning the competition.
The Flamingos defeated DPR Korea, Mexico and other opponents before overcoming Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final to claim the trophy.
Umejiaku, who started the tournament on the bench, became one of Nigeria’s standout performers, scoring crucial goals, including in the final, and winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player.
Speaking to FIFA.com after Nigeria’s historic triumph, she said the players were determined to change their fortunes following the opening loss to Poland.
“When we lost the first game against Poland, everybody said we needed to wake up because we didn’t come here to look at anybody’s face and we have to take every game as a final. We don’t downgrade anything; we play and we put all our best into every game.”
Umejiaku also reflected on her journey from a substitute to one of the tournament’s most influential players, saying she remained hopeful of getting an opportunity to start.
“Every time I went to training and every time I slept, I told God that I’m praying for all the people that are starting. But when I wanted to start, I just told God that it is my time,” she said.
Another key contributor to Nigeria’s triumph was Awawu Bashiru, who initially had limited playing time under head coach Akeem Busari.
Bashiru played just 77 minutes between the opening match and the quarter-final against Venezuela before earning her first start against Brazil. She scored twice in that encounter and also opened the scoring in the final against Japan.
Reflecting on the team’s achievement, Bashiru credited their success to teamwork and the technical crew’s instructions.
“I’m so happy, I’m so excited and I’m so grateful,” she said. “The teamwork, instruction and listening to our coaches is why we got the goals and why we won the final. We are history-makers. We made Nigeria, and the millions of people there, proud.”
Busari, meanwhile, explained that his decisions to change the starting line-up were based on the players’ attitude, character and commitment rather than reputation.
“No matter how good you are, I’m a coach that plays on character,” Busari said of making those key changes. “It’s all about mindset, attitude and merit; if they’re there, you get your playing time. If they’re not there, you’re waiting to come in. As a coach, we want everyone to wire up and play together.”
Nigeria’s victory made the country the first African nation to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the first from the continent to claim a women’s FIFA tournament title.
Umejiaku expressed confidence that the triumph would mark the beginning of more success for Nigerian and African women’s football.
“I’m very happy because now we have broken the chain,” Umejiaku added. “In Africa we always win – that’s a promise. We’ve won, and now we’ll be winning and winning, that’s just it. We thank God for everything.”
Bashiru also promised that Nigeria would return with the same determination at the next edition of the competition.
“We can expect more from Nigeria,” Bashiru added. “We are winning and we’ll bring the same energy, the same zing, at the next U-17 Women’s [World Cup].”
Busari described the triumph as a major boost for African football, saying it demonstrated the continent’s growing competitiveness at youth level.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to account for the N15.8 trillion saved from the removal of the fuel subsidy and the over $100 billion borrowed by his administration.
Obi’s challenge comes 24 hours after Tinubu took a swipe at the former Governor of Anambra State during an All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rally in Akwa Ibom State, saying that while the NDC candidate ran from erosion in Anambra, he (Tinubu) confronted the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos.
In a post on his X handle on Saturday, Obi congratulated Tinubu on spending a night in a Nigerian State outside Lagos and Abuja, while urging him to visit other states and account for the resources available to his administration.
“I congratulate you on spending a night in one of Nigeria’s states outside Lagos and Abuja. I hope you enjoyed the warmth, hospitality, and delicious cuisine of Akwa Ibom, which I am sure is even better than those of the destinations where you have spent over 260 days outside Nigeria since coming into office.
“I sincerely hope this visit will inspire you to travel to the remaining 33 states of the federation, spend time with the people and, more importantly, explain what your administration has done with the ₦15.8 trillion saved from the removal of fuel subsidy, the over $100 billion you have borrowed, the increased revenues accruing to the government from taxing Nigerians, and the additional government revenues which your administration celebrated last year as having surpassed its target,” Obi wrote.
He insisted that Nigerians deserve to know what the government has achieved with the resources, including the number of people lifted out of poverty, children returned to school and functional primary healthcare centres built.
“Nigerians deserve to know how many that were pulled out of poverty within this period, how many out-of-school children were returned to school, and how many functional primary healthcare centres you have built.
“They also deserve to know how much electricity supply has improved, especially given your promise that if you do not fix power, Nigerians should not vote for you. They deserve an explanation of how you have secured the country, which still ranks among the most terrorised countries in the world.
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve answers. They deserve to know what has been done with the resources entrusted to your government,” he added.
Obi said the new Nigeria he hopes to build would be founded on accountability, transparency and the physical, measurable impact of public resources on the lives of citizens.
Nigeria’s under-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, etched their names into football history Saturday, defeating former champions Japan 2–1 at the Mohammed VI Football Complex to lift the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
With the victory, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to win the tournament since its inception in 2008.
Led by head coach Akeem Busari, the Flamingos entered the showpiece having already broken ground as the first African side to reach the final, surpassing their previous best finish of a bronze medal in 2022.
After a fiercely contested opening half-hour against a disciplined Japanese side making their fourth final appearance, Nigeria broke the deadlock in the 39th minute.
Midfielder Awawu Bashiru—who had starred with a brace in the semi-final against Brazil—unleashed a long-range strike that slipped past Japanese goalkeeper Kou Kadowaki to give the Flamingos a 1–0 lead at the break.
Nigeria wasted no time doubling their advantage after the restart. Just two minutes into the second half, forward Oluebube Umejiaku latched onto a through ball and lifted a composed finish over the onrushing Kadowaki in the 47th minute to make it 2–0.
Desperate to reclaim a title they last won in 2014, Japan responded with a triple substitution and mounted heavy late pressure.
The Young Nadeshiko eventually pulled a goal back in the 80th minute through setting up a tense finish in front of a crowd that included FIFA President Gianni Infantino and CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
Despite Japan’s late surge, Nigeria’s backline—marshalled by goalkeeper Sylvia Ijirigho and defender Omowunmi Sunday—held firm through stoppage time to seal an unforgettable triumph for Nigerian and African women’s football.
ThisDay
