- Safiu Kehinde
The 2023 Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has Peter Obi, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s conferment of national honours on politician, stressing that entrepreneurs deserve it more.
Obi made this known during his address on Thursday in Abuja at the public presentation of The Chronicles of a Legend, a biography of business mogul and philanthropist, Gabriel Igbinedion.
While lauding Igbinedion for his contribution to the education and aviation sector, the former Anambra state governor called for a change in how the prestigious national awards are bestowed.
He harped on the need to celebrate entrepreneurs who according to him enables the productivity in the country.
“We live in a country that don’t celebrate those who are supposed to be celebrated. If we do, the celebration we are giving him today would have been more.
“If we do, the celebration would have been more. Who is representing the Ministry of Education here? He built the first university. Who is representing the Ministry of Transport? He did first airline. He was among the first three to be given banking license. I’m in that industry so I know when they built banking industry.
“He did a lot in education, employing people. 17,000. Nigerians today, if we have been a country that is productive, over 120 million people would have been employed.
“We have to change the way we honour people. The GCFR and GCON should be people who are entrepreneurs and productive. Not us politicians. If they like they can remove our own and give them so that the country can produce and be able to employ people” Obi said.
He insisted that achievers like him deserve more celebration and recognition from the nation.