You Can’t Compare Peter Obi To Lee Kuan Yew– Onanuga
The Presidency on Tuesday took a swipe at a social media user who likened Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the comparison as amusing and insulting, saying Obi lacked the leadership credentials and development record to be compared with the Asian statesman.
The controversial remark had been made by a netizen , #winexviv with the username Alex Onyia, who posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Onyia wrote,”Peter Obi is like Lee Kwan Yu of Singapore. Leaders like him come once in a generation.”
Reacting via his verified X handle, Onanuga said the comparison was not only laughable but an affront to Nigerians.
“I find posts like Onyia’s very amusing. He is possibly posting for some idiots to gobble everything he says.
“How can anyone in his right senses compare Peter Obi with the late Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew, a name Onyia misspelt?
“We have a proverb in Yoruba: If a man wants to be sharp and bright, he shows the traits in infancy,” Onanuga wrote.
Taking a swipe at the former Anambra State governor’s record, Onanuga alleged Obi failed to demonstrate any clear vision during his time in office.
“Peter Obi was not an exemplary governor of Anambra.
“He didn’t show any vision of development. He did not build a classroom, as has been said irrefutably.
“Indeed, he left Awka, the capital, worse than he met it,” he said.
“How can such a man be likened to LKY? Onyia, please delete your egregious joke.
“You have insulted Nigerians,” he added.
Lee Kuan Yew served as Singapore’s Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990 and is widely credited with transforming the island nation from a Third World port city into a global financial and technological hub.
Under his leadership, Singapore witnessed rapid industrialisation, efficient governance, zero tolerance for corruption and sweeping education reforms, all of which helped position it as one of Asia’s most prosperous economies.