A senior member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has issued a pointed warning to former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, urging him to stop projecting Nigeria in a negative light during his international appearances.
This caution surfaced less than a day after Sowunmi openly appealed for Obi to consider returning to the PDP ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
Sowunmi’s remarks were a direct response to statements made by Obi during a recent event at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. During his presentation, Obi offered a comparative analysis of Nigeria’s development trajectory alongside countries like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Using data from the Human Development Index (HDI), Obi noted that in 1990, when HDI rankings began, Nigeria and those nations were placed in the medium category. However, he pointed out that while the others have ascended to the high category by 2025, Nigeria has since slipped into the low category.
“Within the same period of 35 years, from 1990 to 2025, the GDP Per Capita of these comparable nations have all improved. As of 1990, while Nigeria had a GDP per capita of $556, China had $317, Indonesia had $578, and Vietnam had only $99. Nigeria, obviously, had higher GDP per capita than China, while Vietnam had less than one-fifth of Nigeria’s per capita. Today, Nigeria’s per capita is about one-fifth of Indonesia’s ($5000) and Vietnam’s (4400) GDP per capita and below one-tenth of China’s (1300) GDP per capita,” Obi stated.
He further highlighted the poverty situation, noting how Nigeria’s position has worsened over the years compared to those same countries.
“In the area of poverty, Nigeria with about 50 million poor people, had the least number of people in poverty in 1990 than any of the three countries. While China had about 750 million people living in poverty, Indonesia and Vietnam had 85 million and 60 million poor people, respectively. China alone had about 15 times the number of poor people than Nigeria. Today, however, Nigeria has more poor people than these 3 countries combined,” he said.
Reacting to these comparisons, Sowunmi took to social media to challenge Obi’s interpretation of the data, accusing him of presenting a skewed and incomplete assessment of Nigeria’s economic situation.
“With due respect, @PeterObi, these measurements are faulty. They are extremely skewed because those who manipulate these figures have no metrics to measure the informal sector in Nigeria. You need to stop this, especially at international forums,” Sowunmi wrote.
He continued by urging Obi to redirect his criticisms toward those truly responsible for Africa’s persistent economic struggles. “You ought to place the burden on them and their Crazy neoliberal policy, and its deep state manipulations that put undue pressure on Africa! No one who wishes to lead a nation called Nigeria must be the de-marketer on steroids of the same country he or she wishes to lead. Stop it immediately.”
Sowunmi questioned the motive behind Obi’s public commentaries on Nigeria before foreign audiences, asking, “Are those you wish to impress outside our country not aware of the multiplier effect of their destabilization of the Sahel and its unfortunate consequences on Nigeria? You need to cut the crap. #NigeriaFirst.”
