Obi: Nigeria is a knocked vehicle, no point changing the driver

Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state says Nigeria is a knocked Vehicle and the attention should be on fixing the engine, not changing the drivers of the economy.

Obi also said 2017 may not be better than 2016, if the country continues addressing the current economic situation, the same way it would address a robust economy.

“For me, I dont think (the economy will be better in 2017) because I have not seen the attention that is required for the situation we find ourselves,” Obi told CNBC Africa.

“Where we are now is like having a car with which has an engine knock, and we are still busy talking about changing the driver. There is no engine in place; even if you bring in the best driver in the world, he is not going to move the car.

“We need to talk about how do we fix the engine of this vehicle, and that engine is the economy. Until we fix it, then we can talk about the driver, whether there is a good driver or bad driver.”

He called on leaders in the country to bury their political divides and deal with the country’s crisis as a survival strategy.

“Considering where we are, we need to have in all these sectors, crisis manager to deal with the situation, We need to pull everybody together, its no  longer a party matter, it is no longer a political matter, it is a survival matter.

“It’s  not time to trade blames,  it’s not time to trade blames, its not time to dwell in yesterday. If you look at our headlines in our newspapers, the quality of discourse is low, we are still chasing shadows.

He said the economy and the security of Nigerians should be at the top of national discourse.

Obi added that Nigeria is a country that would double her population in 30 years,  and nobody is thinking of how to prepare for tomorrow.