Opinion

By Joseph C. Ibekwe

MR. Peter Obi is not the project of the Church in Nigeria! Because the church is not united on political issues, just as it has never been united on doctrinal issues. And Obi is not the project of CAN as the apex body has never issued any public statement to that effect. I cannot tell you that Obi is divine a project because I have no divine clarity on that, and would rather not delve into it. Obi is also not an Igbo project as can been seen by the strong attacks he continues to receive from even the Igbo political elites who have been part of the entrenched transactional political structures of this country.

Obi is not the project of the entrenched establishment. Obi is not the project of the profligate professional political institutions and their mercantile exchanges. 

Obi is a phenomenon. Obi did not come out, building political structures across the country to give himself credibility and relevance. 

Obi is a spontaneous response to the principle of justices, equity and fairness in the distribution of political power in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like ours. Obi’s emergence on this basis, which was rather accidental, challenges the psyche of those that don’t believe that those principles should be espoused and  supported our political environment.

Obi is an abberation in the Nigeria’s conventional political struggles and contestations of political power. Obi’s emergence is a pain in the neck of those that have worked in the establishment and struggled within that establishment both to have their way and or to stay in the way. Obi is more of an outsider than an insider. That’s one of the reasons there are tirade of attacks at him, even when he, himself attacks no one. There are lots of reasons why Obi should not have entered this race, and there are lots of reasons why the prayer of some is that he fails. 

Let’s leave Obi to enjoy the ride and the cruise of his presidential campaigns. If he wins, good; if he loses, he goes back to Onitsha to continue his trading business. Let nobody waste their time anymore sympathizing with or giving us reasons why Obi will fail. 

Obi is the project of the downtrodden men and women in this country: the marginalized, the youths whose future has been destroyed by the gluttonous political elites, those pulverized and impoverished by the establishment. If these people are able to rally strongly among themselves to give him victory at the polls, so be it. If the establishment wins or scuttles the efforts of these battered and beaten majority of the Nigerian population, so be it. 

If you admit that a political candidate has no weight, no structures, no money and have baggages that should work against him in an election, why then waste your energy and time discussing this candidate? There must be something some of these people are afraid of in the candidacy of Mr. Obi that they are not bold enough to admit and to talk about, which is the reason the attacks are hulled on him, with malicious glee and relish. Peter is the soul of a new Nigeria, and those that have helped to render Nigeria’s potential comatose do not want this status quo changed, at least not by a man from the outside and from…

If a man does not matter, why bother discussing him?

The decision is left with the Nigerian populace. One thing the people must understand and act upon is that democracy gives them power to choose their own leaders. The majority must have their way. The suffering Nigerians are in the majority. So if they think that Mr. Peter Obi is the person that help give them a breathe of fresh air, then let them stop at nothing from having their way. This is what democracy permits.

Obi winning the 2023 presidential elections should not be seen as a do or die affair. He has not come into this race with an entitlement mentality. He has only offered himself to serve. You,  the electorates, the majority who bear the brunt of dis-functional society,  have a choice: to say yes to Mr. Peter Obi or to say no at the polls. That should settle the matter. 

Meanwhile, let’s have a robust presidential campaigns and enjoy the democratic cruise.

Joseph C. Ibekwe

Leadership Coach

@ FLED International Leadership Institute, Abuja

A.I

Tags: Mr. Peter Obi