Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has highlighted the importance of education and healthcare to national transformation, asserting that both sectors are the bedrock of Nigeria’s prosperity.
On July 1, 2026, Obi, in Part 1 of what he titled “My Vision for a Productive and Prosperous Nigeria”, outlined the broad framework of his proposed roadmap for national renewal.
He emphasised that the transformation of Nigeria must begin with rebuilding human capital through quality education and healthcare, supported by reforms in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), character and civic education, and strategic investments that will move the nation from a consumption-driven economy to a production-driven one.
Expanding on the two critical pillars on July 16, Obi maintained that education and healthcare are the bedrock upon which every prosperous nation is built.
“They are the cornerstones of the foundation that will ensure that a son of nobody can become somebody and remove many from the ranks of the disaffected who often become tools in the insecurity challenges confronting us,” he said.
He pointed out that evidence from around the world shows that quality education and accessible healthcare are among the clearest distinctions between thriving nations and lagging ones.
Obi cited Princeton University Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton, who highlighted this reality in his book titled, “The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality.”
“Nothing, therefore, could be further from the truth than the claim by some young people that ‘education is a scam’.” he stated.
He stressed that education, when combined with good health, provides the ladder for individual upward mobility and drives economic growth for the nation. “We must become more intentional about aligning education with our national priorities, as Singapore did, and challenge our country to value education in the same way Deng Xiaoping repeatedly urged China to do from 1978 onwards, with the remarkable transformation we see today.”
Obi pledged that, if elected president, his administration would work through commissions to strengthen collaboration among the tiers of government, ensuring that primary education is domiciled at the community and local government levels, with strong parental involvement and curricula that are sensitive to local economic factor endowments and the value chains derived from them.
He also disclosed that state governments would be supported to expand high-quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as well as general secondary education, through targeted grants and incentives.
He further revealed that he is developing schemes that will enable universities to focus more deliberately on specialised areas of teaching and research, making them globally competitive while producing a workforce equipped for the demands of the future.
