Inflation, even with the suppressed statistics, is nearly 30%, unemployment and economic mismanagement have nearly wiped out our once vibrant middle class.
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has drawn a stark comparison between Nigeria’s economic performance and that of Argentina, noting that although both President Bola Tinubu and Argentina’s leader Javier Milei assumed office around the same period, the outcomes have diverged sharply. Tinubu was sworn in on 29 May 2023; Milei took office on 10 December 2023, yet Argentina has evidently advanced while Nigeria “is getting worse” .
Obi lamented that Argentina, which began with “over 52% of its population in poverty, inflation was above 200%,” managed to reverse those trends. “Within two years, the newly inaugurated president was able to cut down the poverty rate to 38.1% from 52% extreme poverty fell to 8.2%, with inflation just around 2–3% monthly,” he said .
By 2025, Obi added, urban poverty in Argentina had declined further to 31.6%, fueling renewed investor confidence and economic growth .
In contrast, he asserted, “Inflation, even with the suppressed statistics, is nearly 30%, while unemployment and economic mismanagement have nearly wiped out our once vibrant middle class.” He stressed that “two years may not be enough to change a nation with a 100% turn,” but affirmed it “is more than enough to kickstart the transformation journey” .
Obi concluded with a call for leadership that prioritizes the people, underscores prudent resource management, and fights corruption, as critical prerequisites to Nigeria’s recovery .