Why I visited Indonesia — Peter Obi

Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) national leader has revealed the motive behind his recent trip to Indonesia.

According to him, he visited Indonesia to understudy the country’s progress and compare it with Nigeria’s.

Obi believes that learning from other nations’ successful strategies is crucial for Nigeria’s development.

During his five-day trip, Obi met with high-ranking stakeholders, including former Indonesian Minister Agung Laksono, former Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, and Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto. Their discussions covered critical areas like security, education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation .

Obi was impressed by Indonesia’s remarkable progress, noting that the country’s per capita income rose from $1,136 in 2004 to approximately $5,000 in 2024, while Nigeria’s remained around $1,000. Indonesia’s Human Development Index (HDI) also improved from medium to high, whereas Nigeria’s remains low.

“Driven by my firm conviction that what is imperatively required now is to learn from and strictly apply the successful lessons that other comparable nations have used to achieve progress, as I had expressly and severally tweeted earlier this year, I embarked on my first planned trip to Indonesia.

“I arrived in Indonesia on the 2nd of February and spent five days—Monday to Friday—engaging in several hours of meetings with highly placed stakeholders on various issues of development.

“These discussions covered critical areas such as security, education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.

“In 2004, Indonesia’s per capita income was $1,136, while Nigeria’s was $963. At that time, Indonesia’s overall development, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), was categorized as medium, whereas Nigeria’s was low.

“By 2024, Indonesia’s per capita income has risen to approximately $5,000, while Nigeria’s remains around $1,000. Indonesia’s HDI has improved from the medium to the high category, whereas Nigeria remains in the low category. For example, using health, the number one HDI indicator, Indonesia now has 98% health insurance coverage, whereas Nigeria has less than 10%.

“I have already noted some key insights which align with my firm belief that learning from proven models is the panacea for sustainable growth and development,” Obi wrote.