Nigeria desperately needs a new kind of leadership
Peter Obi offers the best hope of it
![TOPSHOT - Presidential candidate of Labour Party Peter Obi looks on during the party campaign rally in Lagos, on February 11, 2023. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP) (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20230218_LDP003.jpg)
Nigeria has been cursed with bad rulers. A military regime gave way to democracy in 1999, but since then elections have offered voters an ugly selection of the ancient, the incompetent and, most recently, a former military dictator. Parties have stoked ethnic divisions, intimidated their opponents and bought votes. Many candidates—federal, state and local—seek power to grab a share of the country’s oil wealth. Successive governments have been deeply corrupt. Turnout has steadily fallen. But as Nigerians go to the polls on February 25th, Peter Obi, a third-party presidential candidate, offers a measure of hope.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A chance for change”
Leaders February 18th 2023
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