Former Anambra State Governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has returned to public engagements after taking a brief medical rest that forced him to suspend scheduled appearances over the weekend. Obi, who revealed he fell ill during a tourism event in Enugu on Friday, had announced that he was following his doctor’s advice by taking time off to recover.
Resuming activities on Monday, Obi honored a long-standing promise to visit an SME owned by a Nigerian entrepreneur he met during his travels. He emphasized the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in driving economic growth, noting that the business, MDH, currently employs over 50 young Nigerians and has the potential to expand with adequate investment and government support.
Drawing comparisons with Bangladesh, where textiles account for over 70% of exports and generate more than $50 billion annually, Obi lamented Nigeria’s collapsed textile industry and urged a shift from consumption to production. “Investing in small businesses is key to lifting millions out of poverty and positioning Nigeria as a global player in creativity and trade,” he said, reaffirming his call for stronger support for SMEs as the backbone of Nigeria’s economic revival.