Former presidential candidate says Nigeria lacks leaders with vision

The former presidential candidate also became Nigeria’s youngest presidential candidate in 2019 when he contested for the presidency of the West African state at age 35.

Chike made this statement in an interview with GSW’s Ismail Akwei following the public outcry after reports of the purchase of a presidential yacht in November 2023 by the Nigerian government amid the economic struggles in the country.

“If you look at some of the African countries, in my opinion, that are doing well, they have leaders with a vision. When I talk about vision, I don't mean let's just build roads or let's feed the hungry, those are important. But if you're building roads for 200 million people today, for a nation whose population might double in the next three decades, it means that 20 years from now, you have created another problem because you still have overpopulation, So the main problem we have in Nigeria is not having leaders who understand a vision that can carry the nation beyond now,” Chike said.

“We have a Congress that is buying cars for itself. You have a president who is doing whatever. Meanwhile, there are people in Nigeria who live in extreme poverty. It's like we have tone-deaf leaders who don't care about the masses. When the two basic responsibilities of governance are to provide and protect the people or create the environment that enables them to do that safely and as of yet, we're yet to see that,” he added.

Between 2014 and 2023, Nigeria's youth unemployment rate averaged 24.28%. In September 2023, the West African nation had a 26.72% inflation rate, 5.94% more than the 20.77% rate in the same month the previous year, the Guardian Nigeria reported.

Nigeria was also ranked as the 145^th best out of 180 nations globally in a Corruption Perceptions Index report according to corruption in the public sector.