By Chinelo Obogo
Recently, Nigerians living at the City of California in United States organised a town hall meeting to create a synergy on the growth and development of the country ahead of the 2023 general election.
 
The primary responsibility of government is the protection of lives and properties of her citizens,  build and provide social amenities, jobs and cater for the basic needs of her citizens. 
 
At the moment, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr. Peter Obi, has a groundswell of support called the ‘Obidient Movement’ propelled mainly by young people who say they determined to see the end of bad leadership in Nigeria.
 
 
Speaking on his political drive for 2023 and what he and his team will do to transform the nation while addressing a packed audience at the Beverly Hilton Los Angeles flag-off of his US speaking tour, Mr. Obi said the vision and mission is to give full expression to “our democracy by moving our country from consumption to production.
 
According to Obi, “When we moved education from 26 to number one in Anambra. We didn’t change the teachers but rather we invested money in education the first year, it didn’t change we invested the second time and still didn’t change but after studying what happened. I decided
we can’t manage it, so it has to go back to those who owns the school and we funded it until our efforts paid off.”
 
Obi assured that he would not joke with education if elected the next president of Nigeria in 2023.
He also vowed to increase electricity generation in Nigeria, or quit as president after his first term.
 
Obi, who flew in from Toronto, Canada, listed countries that had doubled their power supply in a few years to include Egypt, which he recently went to understudy, and lamented that even the president of South Africa, which produces 50,000 megawatts of electricity, had just declared a state of emergency in the sector for being too little but Nigeria, which produces a paltry 4,000 megawatts for over 200 million people, has not.
 
He challenged the enthusiastic Nigerians in America to hold him accountable when he comes to power to deliver on what he promised.
 
Obi, whose speech was interrupted with applause and chants of “Obi” said no one was asking for perfection but at least leaders should show direction and efforts.
 
Also speaking during the meeting, Senator Annie Okonkwo said that  Obi is the most qualified candidate among all the people contesting the presidential election. 
 
“What has kept Nigeria where it is today is corruption and we need a bold leader like peter Obi to rescue the country from the hands of people who doesn’t mean well for Nigeria.
 
“The Obidient Movement has not been seen in Nigeria before now. Sometimes, I wish the campaign starts today so that I can see those people campaigning for those candidates, they will hide their faces in shame because it will be very glaring to them at the direction Nigeians are moving to because the people are tired of bad leadership.
 
 “Jesus said in the Bible to take away the stone and He shouted with authority Lazarus, and he slowly hobbled out. So, what we need to do in Nigeria today is bigger than remove the stone. We are going to elect Peter Obi to remove the stone so that our children future will be bright. We can build a new Nigeria that we can all be proud of.
 
“Peter Obi has done it before. He has done it in Anambra State, so it is not a rocket science. It is easier to rule Nigeria than to govern Anambra State. The most important thing is to have someone who will dedicate and commit himself for the job and I have no doubt that Nigerians have found that leader and that is Peter Obi.
 
“We do not need to be afraid. A lot of people will tell you that they are going to rig the election, no, they can’t rig the election. I have been in politics for over three decades, if you are not a popular candidate you cant rig election. We all have a big role to play to get things right,” Okonkwo added.