Tackle Poverty, Reduce Crime Rate, Obi Tells FG

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has reiterated that poverty, more than any other variable, is the cause of increasing crimes in society.

Obi, who commended the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, for coming to terms with this reality, writes in his X handle that the more people are pulled out of poverty, the fewer crimes there are in society.

He said, “I have consistently maintained that the more we pull people out of poverty, the more we reduce criminality, and the reverse is also true. You can not separate security from human development; they are inextricably linked.”

Obi said the criminality witnessed in Nigeria today is neither a coincidence nor an accident, adding that it is the cumulative outcome of decades of misplaced priorities, the direct consequence of poor governance, mismanagement of public resources, monumental corruption, and systemic neglect.

“I have consistently maintained that development is not about awarding billion-naira contracts for white elephant projects or building structures without soul or purpose. Real development means investing in the critical areas of human development that directly impact human capital: education, healthcare, and poverty eradication.”

He said a country where nearly 100 million citizens live in extreme poverty and over 140 million experience multidimensional poverty will inevitably face a serious security crisis.

“Interestingly, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, recently affirmed this when he rightly stated: “You cannot fight insecurity with bullets alone. You must address the root causes, poverty, unemployment, lack of education, and injustice.

“This is not coming from a politician but from the nation’s top military commander. Even the boots on the ground know the battle can not be won by force alone. We must win it through human dignity, opportunity, and justice.

“Decades earlier, the great Mallam Aminu Kano, a man of vision and conscience, warned us: “The problem with Nigeria is that we abandon the masses and then criminalise their hunger.” His words still ring true today. A child out of school today becomes vulnerable to manipulation and extremism tomorrow. A family that goes to bed hungry becomes a breeding ground for resentment. A community without access to clean water, primary healthcare, or opportunity becomes a powder keg waiting to explode.

“Mother Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that “When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.

“We can not keep reacting to crises self-inflicted by bad leadership and policy failure. It is time to disrupt this cycle. We must prioritise productive investment in critical sectors, education, health, and agriculture. These are not just economic priorities; they are national security imperatives.

He said Nigeria can not continue to do business as usual, adding that every money invested in people today is one less bullet needed to fire tomorrow.

“That is the real meaning of security. That is how we build a new Nigeria that is possible.”