The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, attended the 2025 annual conference of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) in Chicago, USA, delivering the keynote speech at the event.
His keynote speech, titled “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in Pharmaceutical Development and Healthcare Delivery,” explained the promise of AI in healthcare and how the new technology is improving virtually all tenets of human endeavour.
Obi worried that Nigeria may once again fail to fully harness the new AI technology, missing out on the global revolution. He cited poor leadership, weak policy formulation, and the perennial challenge of policy implementation as the main challenges likely to affect the full harness of AI in Nigeria.
“I drew parallels with our past experience with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Obi stated, explaining reasons for his worry
The former Anambra governor pointed out that many asian countries were able to flesh out, iterate, and implement smart SDG and MDG policies, which yielded significant results in their respective countries. Africans, on the other hand, were unable to do this, and Nigeria, in particular, struggled to meet its own SDG and MDG goals.
Obi argued that competent leadership is necessary for African countries to fully leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence and other cutting-edge technological advancements made available in recent times.
The former Labour Party flagbearer attended another event at the University of Chicago, where he spoke on “Youth and Development Across the Diaspora: Vision, Purpose, Impact.”.
Obi expressed gratitude and pride to be speaking at the renowned institution, popular for its intellectual tradition, pioneering research, and lasting influence in economics, law, and the social sciences.
He engaged attendees of the event in a question-and-answer session, dissecting the topic and explaining his view on the theme. He concluded by encouraging the participants to deepen their interest in Africa’s development, reminding them that the country needs the input of the diaspora to thrive and reach its full potential.
