The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said that “Nigeria’s future depends on what we build today.”

Obi said this in a post he shared on his official X account after the former Governor of Anambra State donated the sum of N10 million to the Nsukka Nursing College.

For the young men and women studying to become nurses in Nsukka, the unfinished buildings at the Faith Foundation College of Nursing Sciences are more than construction sites.

They are the classrooms, laboratories and training spaces where some of them hope to acquire the skills that will eventually place them at the bedside of patients across Nigeria.

That prospect received a fresh boost on Thursday when Obi returned to the institution with an additional N10m for its ongoing projects.

Obi’s intervention came during an inspection of construction work at the college, where the proprietor recalled that his earlier donations had provided the confidence needed to begin several of the projects now underway.

The latest contribution, Obi said, was driven by the need to support healthcare education and the development of professionals capable of strengthening Nigeria’s health system.

He also assured the institution of continued support until its development plans were fully realised.

But behind the cheque was a larger issue confronting Nigeria: how to produce enough skilled professionals to sustain a country whose healthcare system continues to depend heavily on a limited pool of trained personnel.

For Obi, investment in institutions such as the nursing college is therefore an investment in people—and ultimately in the lives of Nigerians who will depend on the services of the professionals trained there.

From the college, Obi moved into another conversation about Nigeria’s future, joining youths at the 68th Annual Conference of Anglican Youths at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Nsukka.

There, he challenged young Nigerians to move from being spectators in the country’s political affairs to becoming active participants in determining its direction.

He warned against choosing leaders primarily because they share the same tribe, religion or language, urging the youths to demand something more fundamental: character, competence, capacity, integrity and ethical leadership.

His argument was simple—Nigeria cannot expect different results if citizens continue to accept the same standards from those seeking political power.

“Our future depends not only on the leaders we produce but also on the standards we demand,” he told the gathering.

The message connected the two stops in Nsukka. At the nursing college, Obi was supporting an institution preparing young people for the responsibility of caring for human lives.

At the youth conference, he was asking those same young people to recognise another responsibility—their role in determining who gets to lead the country.

For a nation struggling with healthcare challenges, economic hardship and declining confidence in public institutions, Obi argued that the answer lies not only in political promises but in building people and demanding accountable leadership.

The nursing college, he said, represents the kind of investment that produces measurable human capacity.

The youth gathering, meanwhile, offered an opportunity to challenge the next generation to insist on higher standards in public life.

Obi’s message was ultimately about ownership of Nigeria’s future: government must invest in people, while citizens must take responsibility for the quality of leadership they accept.

He expressed confidence that the Nigeria Nigerians desire remains achievable if citizens, particularly young people, reject divisive politics and insist on leadership rooted in competence, integrity and service.

“Together, we can build the New Nigeria that is possible,” he said. (The Nation)

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