Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has advised Nigerians not to hand over the mandate to run a sick country like Nigeria to a sick man.

Obi said this at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as he continued his national campaigns ahead of the February 25 presidential election.

“This country is sick and should not be handed over to a sick person. I’m not saying anyone is sick. We’ve been here for more than two hours, we don’t want people who can’t last 30 minutes,” Obi said in an interactive session with the varsity School of Business.

He identified character and confidence as two cardinal attributes to consider in recruiting leaders to run the nation’s affairs for the next four years.

“In the United States during the elections, they go to the debates. Someone once asked Barack Obama personal questions and he answered. But here in Nigeria, someone wants to participate in the elections, we don’t know his real age, we don’t know his name, we don’t know the schools he attended. No one knows his true identity and he is pushing to lead everyone.

“My name is Peter Obi. I can say that I went to Christ The King College, I went to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Both the VC today, the DVC today, were my schoolmates. We arrived at the university the same year and left the same year. The people I went to school with, I can see here today, my seniors and juniors. How come we now have people who don’t have classmates? This is very important”

The former governor of Anambra State, however, admitted that not everyone can receive an equal or formal education, but everyone’s records must be correct.

“Afe Babalola once told me that he never had the opportunity to go to a formal school. There is nothing wrong in it. There are so many people who have done well in life and never went to formal school.

On corruption, he said, “If you say you are going to fight corruption, let’s go to the path you’ve been on and see what’s left there after you’re gone,” stressing that “this year’s elections should be based on competition, as it requires physical and mental energy. It’s not a retirement job.”