Obi faulted Nigerian leaders for wasteful displays of power despite managing comparatively smaller budgets.
In a post on X on Thursday, Obi recounted his ongoing three-day trip to the US, where he visited Atlanta, Washington, and Chicago.
He noted that Atlanta, with an annual city budget of about $3 billion, generates more revenue than Nigeria’s national budget, yet its mayor, Andre Dickens, maintains a modest public profile.
Obi said he travelled with Dickens on the same flight from Atlanta to Washington without any special treatment for the mayor. According to him, Dickens boarded and disembarked like every other passenger, without aides carrying bags, announcements, sirens, or entourages.
“In Nigeria, governors, most of whom oversee budgets smaller than Atlanta’s—and even local government chairmen, whose allocations are less than 1% of Atlanta’s, would have constituted a public nuisance with sirens, protocol officers, endless announcements, large entourages, and posters everywhere,” Obi stated.
He argued that Nigerian leaders must change their public conduct and focus more on service delivery, citing Dickens’ commitments to crime reduction, youth opportunities, and a minimum wage of $15 per hour for council workers.
Peter Obi has once again taken aim at Nigerian governors, contrasting their flamboyant lifestyles with the humility he witnessed abroad. Sharing his experience in the US, Obi noted that the Mayor of Atlanta, despite being worth $10 million, moved around without sirens, convoys, or special treatment, even waiting in line like every other citizen. He urged Nigerian leaders to embrace simplicity and service instead of showmanship.
readers comment
The most annoying part of the whole showmanship is that compared to the mayor, most of these our governors are empty brains, illiterates and second and third division league graduates as Abati of Arise News will call them. Imagine Okpebholo as governor, this is a man who bear the worst WAEC certificate I have ever seen in my entire life. See him move around in Nigeria e go shock you.
