Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election and a prominent Nigerian politician, has highlighted the stark difference between lending practices in the United Kingdom and Nigeria, praising UK banks for extending loans based on intellectual capital rather than physical collateral.
Speaking on Friday at the Spier Dialogue 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa, Obi shared his personal experience while addressing members of the Nigerian community.
“I lived in the UK, my brother. I did business in the UK. Very successful business. I went to the bank. I told them the schools I was from, Cambridge and Oxford, and they gave me money,” he said.
“They didn’t ask me about my parents. They gave me this loan based on my intellectual capital, and I paid them back.”
Obi contrasted this with the situation in Nigeria, where he claimed loans are heavily dependent on family background and property collateral.
“In my country, I wouldn’t get that type of loan. They would have asked me to go and bring my dead mother and father, their properties and all of that,” he added.
The former Anambra State governor used the example to emphasise the need for functional institutions and competent leadership in Nigeria, rather than a transactional approach to governance.
He advocated for building systems that reward knowledge, competence, and innovation.
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