Women Are Less Corrupt Than Men — Peter Obi

…Says Corruption Is Easy To Fight
…Supports IBB’s Comment On Corruption

Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, Monday argued
that Nigerian women are less corrupt than men. He equally noted
that corruption can easily be fought and scraped in Nigeria.

Speaking when he appeared in a programme on AriseTv, the Vice
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in
2019 general elections, extolled women, noting that they are more
caring and meticulous in handling issues.

“I have worked with women. They are less corrupt. As far as
Nigeria is concerned, women are less corrupt. When I was a chairman
of a bank, the key drivers of the bank; Treasurer, etc were women
and they were fantastic. As governor, from my chief of staff down
to others, those who helped me were women.

“They are more caring, and because they have families, when you
talk about education, they are more passionate about it. When you
talk about supporting small businesses they are passionate. They
can understand it because they are running families.

“We need to involve women more. Ruben, you were in government
when Ngozi Okonji-Iweala was begging us to save money. Look at the
mess we are today. Had we listened to that woman, she was crying
and said we have 20bn dollars in the excess crude, let’s put it in
a sovereign wealth fund. If we had done that, we won’t be where we
are today.”

However, when asked if he has the solution to Nigeria’s problem,
Obi said: “Our problem is very simple, I always say it. It’s the
issue of leadership. If we have a leadership that is visually
focused and understands what the problem is, it will be solved.

“We have security issue, issue of law and order, issue of trying
to stop all forms of impunity. People will say yes, for me it’s
about economy. But you can’t talk about economy without talking
about security, law and order, and removal of all forms of
impunity.

“Why this is important is because, the greatest contributor to
your economy and GDP is the intangible assets, which I just
mentioned. If you talk about America, 70 percent of American GDP
contribution is actually the intangible assets. Security, law and
order, and of course I said the removal of all sorts of impunity
which we see today, then you deal with the economy itself.

“It’s not a sophisticated thing. All we need is to move our
economy from consumption to production and that is very simple,
it’s not rocket science. Then stop corruption. Corruption again is
easy to fight.

However, reacting on corruption, Mr Obi threw his weight behind
the former military head of state, General Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida, IBB, who opined that the corruption index in the country
is worse and more pervasive at the moment than his time in
power.

Obi said: “I agree hundred percent with IBB. Nigeria is far more
corrupt now than then. If there is anything that has had consistent
growth, probably competing with the world, it’s corruption. You
can’t compare what is happening today to the military regime.”

Speaking on Nigeria’s problem cum solution, Obi succinctly said:
“What we are passing through is the cumulative effect of leadership
failure over the years.

“The problem of Nigeria is leadership.

“However it is for Nigerians to ensure that the leadership
selection this time should be well organized. They should be able
to scrutinize all those who are availing themselves for the
leadership.

“It’s very simple: Where was this person yesterday, what did he
do then?

“What we have in Nigeria is not just leadership issue, its
integrity issue. We have people who are well sophisticated, well
educated but they are thieves.

“Educational qualification is not a measure of integrity.
Ability to speak queen’s English is not either.

“We should look for people who have the capacity, integrity, and
of course have the knowledge of what the problem is all about in
order to tackle it. We need to look at their records”, he said.

…Says Corruption Is Easy To Fight
…Supports IBB’s Comment On Corruption

Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, Monday argued
that Nigerian women are less corrupt than men. He equally noted
that corruption can easily be fought and scraped in Nigeria.

Speaking when he appeared in a programme on AriseTv, the Vice
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in
2019 general elections, extolled women, noting that they are more
caring and meticulous in handling issues.

“I have worked with women. They are less corrupt. As far as
Nigeria is concerned, women are less corrupt. When I was a chairman
of a bank, the key drivers of the bank; Treasurer, etc were women
and they were fantastic. As governor, from my chief of staff down
to others, those who helped me were women.

“They are more caring, and because they have families, when you
talk about education, they are more passionate about it. When you
talk about supporting small businesses they are passionate. They
can understand it because they are running families.

“We need to involve women more. Ruben, you were in government
when Ngozi Okonji-Iweala was begging us to save money. Look at the
mess we are today. Had we listened to that woman, she was crying
and said we have 20bn dollars in the excess crude, let’s put it in
a sovereign wealth fund. If we had done that, we won’t be where we
are today.”

However, when asked if he has the solution to Nigeria’s problem,
Obi said: “Our problem is very simple, I always say it. It’s the
issue of leadership. If we have a leadership that is visually
focused and understands what the problem is, it will be solved.

“We have security issue, issue of law and order, issue of trying
to stop all forms of impunity. People will say yes, for me it’s
about economy. But you can’t talk about economy without talking
about security, law and order, and removal of all forms of
impunity.

“Why this is important is because, the greatest contributor to
your economy and GDP is the intangible assets, which I just
mentioned. If you talk about America, 70 percent of American GDP
contribution is actually the intangible assets. Security, law and
order, and of course I said the removal of all sorts of impunity
which we see today, then you deal with the economy itself.

“It’s not a sophisticated thing. All we need is to move our
economy from consumption to production and that is very simple,
it’s not rocket science. Then stop corruption. Corruption again is
easy to fight.

However, reacting on corruption, Mr Obi threw his weight behind
the former military head of state, General Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida, IBB, who opined that the corruption index in the country
is worse and more pervasive at the moment than his time in
power.

Obi said: “I agree hundred percent with IBB. Nigeria is far more
corrupt now than then. If there is anything that has had consistent
growth, probably competing with the world, it’s corruption. You
can’t compare what is happening today to the military regime.”

Speaking on Nigeria’s problem cum solution, Obi succinctly said:
“What we are passing through is the cumulative effect of leadership
failure over the years.

“The problem of Nigeria is leadership.

“However it is for Nigerians to ensure that the leadership
selection this time should be well organized. They should be able
to scrutinize all those who are availing themselves for the
leadership.

“It’s very simple: Where was this person yesterday, what did he
do then?

“What we have in Nigeria is not just leadership issue, its
integrity issue. We have people who are well sophisticated, well
educated but they are thieves.

“Educational qualification is not a measure of integrity.
Ability to speak queen’s English is not either.

“We should look for people who have the capacity, integrity, and
of course have the knowledge of what the problem is all about in
order to tackle it. We need to look at their records”, he said.