BY SOLA EBISENI
Having just obtained the presidential nomination form of N40 million, not few Nigerians were taken by surprise when in his letter to the now embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Gregory Obi, gave notice of withdrawal of his membership of the party.
In that terse statement also to the Chairman of his Agulu Ward 2 (sounds like Mahin Ward 2) and dated Friday, May 20, 20222, Obi considered it “a great honour to contribute to nation-building efforts through our great party. Unfortunately, recent developments within our party make it practically impossible to continue participating and making such constructive contributions.”
He reasoned that “our national challenges are deep-seated and require that we each make profound sacrifices towards rescuing our country. My commitment to rescuing Nigeria remains firm, even if the route differs”.
Again, not few Nigerians were looking forward to an exciting contest between the two leading parties, particularly if it was between Peter Obi of the PDP and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of the APC, but what choice did they have in a political system that makes access to power determined by highest-bidder-friendly party delegates of one from each of the nepotistically created 774 Local Governments.
It was thus not considered only audacious but also unreasonable for this Peter to have abandoned the certainty of the PDP where Abubakar Atiku, who was sure to win the Presidential nomination, might have made him his running mate for the Labour Party which existence on the list of political parties would only have been saved by winning a few constituencies not quite known.
Like wildfire in harmatan, the Peter Obi candidature becomes such a phenomenon only the most naive or out-rightly uncharitable would dismiss as inconsequential. It was such that Governor Obaseki of Edo State, addressing the PDP Caucus in his state on Monday, June 20, 2022, just one month after Obi left the PDP, observed interalia as follows: “The future of our politics in this country is changing.
I don’t know whether you’ve observed the level of disenchantment with the ruling parties. I’m sure in all our homes here, we have so many people who call themselves ‘Obidients’. I don’t know if you have them in your house. Just ask them which party are you? They’ll say ‘Obidient’. They don’t want us. They are not talking about APC or PDP. They are looking for alternative”.
Obaseki is not alone in this puzzling political reality which has taken a life of its own, propelled ferociously by youths across all states and tribes putting Obi himself on his toes beyond personal expectations. Bemused conventional political commentators and hack writers who Initially dismissed the Obidient phenomenon as mere social media revolution which they reckoned was restricted to a section of the country and among sophisticated users of the millennium communication technology, were soon swept off their feet as the youths hit the grounds across the federation.
The presidential ticket combination of a South/North and Christian/Muslim with visible youth vigour and unblemished character content soon convinced doubting Thomases that the promoters of the Obidient phenomenon are not political streets hawkers but those who are perfectly in tune with the realities and sentiments of the Nigerian politics.
The endorsement of the Peter Obi/Yussuf Datti ticket by credible sociocultural/political organisations and unspoken but visible past leaders crisscrossing the nation and the globe in that respect leaves naysayers with no other option but blackmail some of which are mundane and unintelligible.
For instance, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, had since 2021 noted that for equity and national cohesion, the next President of Nigeria, after the eight years tenure of Muhammadu Buhari of the north, must emerge from the Southern States.
This was given gubernatorial imprimatur by the Southern Governors Forum resolving unequivocally in their Meeting at Asaba Delta State on May 11, 2021.
The SMBLF on Sunday, May 30, 2021, at an expanded and overwhelmingly attended meeting held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers reiterated its resolve that the next President of Nigeria shall come from the South and most prophetically “enjoined political stakeholders from the South not to be lured into the unpatriotic step of seeking such other positions as national chairmen and vice president of the main political parties, but join forces to demand and ensure that the Presidency moves to the South in 2023”.
It goes without saying that the SMBLF and its constituents of Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the Middle Belt Forum are made up of elder statesman of impeccable pedigree, seasoned politicians, among them former governors, deputy governors, cabinet members and parliamentarians at both national and State levels, party chieftains including current Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee of political parties. They see power as an instrument of national unity in which no person or group is oppressed. This philosophy takes precedence unpretentiously over party loyalty.
The full story of how Afenifere came to narrowing its search on the South-East and adopting Peter Obi is for another day; suffice it to say that it is not a personal opinion of our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo. Of course, it would be foolhardy to expect unanimity on such a thorny political issue, it is nonetheless a well considered corporate decision debated for over a year of regular monthly meetings, validly conveyed in the best tradition of the organisation from July 29, 2021 to September 27, 2022.
It is also not a product of imagined hatred of the organisation or any of our leaders for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Ironically, it was these inventors of imaginary hatred for Tinubu that utterly condemned Chief Adebanjo for leading Afenifere on a visit to Asiwaju last October after his medical trip to UK last October.
Those who seek to give Peter Obi a bad name to hang him, would accuse him of all perceived offences of the Ndigbo including their monopoly of trades at Alaba or Ladipo markets. In the political arena, one is not unlikely to read shocking articles by supposedly knowledgeable people who would rather hold Peter Obi responsible for the political events that culminated in the civil war of 1967 when he was barely six years old.
All the political schemes amongst Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe and Ahmadu Bello were ascribed to their respective ethnic groups and Peter Obi, who was probably not born at the time of those events, must be held for the acts of Nnamdi Azikwe and Ndigbo by extension. Peter Obi is being called upon to stop the agitation of the IPOB to prove that Ndigbo believe in Nigeria while other presidential candidates do not carry the burden of the youths of their ethnic groups.
The die is cast for the Nigeria make or mar 2023 Presidential election. May God spare our lives to tell the story of its aftermath as a corporate and united nation. Our conviction rests on the fact that only by righteousness is a nation exalted. Nigeria, we hail thee.
Ebiseni is the Secretary General, Afenifere
