Port Harcourt — The 2023 polls, especially the one for President, has captured the imagination of Nigerians in many ways. As Buhari looks set to leave office and probably decide to chill in Daura, there is understandable tension on who will replace him. As the two main political parties – APC and PDP – jostle for our hearts and votes, they treat us to the unpleasant spectacle of watching them bicker and fight within themselves. The bone of contention in the APC is the presidential ticket, with party chieftain Babachir Lawal protesting the decdision of Asiwaju Tinubu to pick a fellow Muslim as his running mate. The PDP has its own headache in the never-ending beef between Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike, the Governor of Rivers State who lost in the party’s presidential primaries and was passed over in the choice of running mate. But there is another dimension: the Peter Obi candidature. Mr. Obi was Atiku’s running mate in their last attempt to unseat Buhari in 2019. Before then, he was governor of Anambra State. Before then, he was a banker. Before then, he was a successful businessman. Before then, he was plain and simple Peter Obi, another guy in a corner of Nigeria.
Mr. Obi, aged 61 and father of two, again threw his hat into the ring this year in the PDP, but he switched to the Labour Party in May, saying his party could not give him the platform to actualise his dream. The Labour Party was formed in 2002 and formerly known as Party for Social Democracy. The party has a slim electoral profile. While it produced the Governor of Ondo State (Olusegun Mimiko) in 2007, its presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Alhaji Muhammed Usman Zaki was only able to win 5,074 votes nationwide. Mr. Obi’s decision to join the party has thrust it into national limelight. By the electoral timetable, campaigns for the election will start 28th September this year, but Mr. Obi’s supporters have already gone viral with anecdotal justifications on why their man should be President. He rides on a crest wave of populism backed by young tech-savvy supporters, such that, if elections are decided solely on social media activism, Mr. Obi should be packing his bags to move into Aso Villa.
Mr. Obi himself, walking with suave and swagger has made it a duty to turn up at the right places. In July this year, he was at Peniel, an annual retreat of Assemblies of God, Nigeria at Okpoto in Ebonyi State. He was introduced, prayed for, laid hands on, and even allowed to make a speech. Mr. Obi was also at the 70th convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, this month, where the moderator carefully choreographed the introduction. He was simply announced as “Mr. Peter Obi,” but the moderator wasn’t prepared for what followed. For minutes, the crowd erupted in applause, with the camera showing glimpses of Mr. Obi who smiled coyly as if he hadn’t prayed for this moment! The moderator struggled to regain control and get the programme going. In August, Mr. Obi was at the national conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, this time, sharing the platform with Atiku Abubakar, but the welcome he received was warm and rapturous. It is clear Mr. Obi, and his supporters, are taking every opportunity to
make their point.
So what’s the point about Mr. Obi? His supporters say he left Anambra State debt-free; they say he rejected pension payment while his colleagues smiled away with hefty benefits; they say he is humble; they say he is not a thief; they say he is honest and hardworking. While some of these are anecdotal recollections, I can attest that Mr. Obi is not a typical ex-governor. I have met him on international and domestic flights. The man would obediently (or obidently?) wait for his turn in the queue, carrying his bag. On one flight that landed in Lagos, Mr. Obi caried his bag and sat in front of the car that picked him and left the airport like a normal airline passenger – no fuss, no noise no wahala. But, as we know, it takes more than carrying one’s bags to govern Nigeria, and this is where the rubber meets the road.
Mr. Obi, if he must be believed, wants to remake Nigeria. He wants to pay all our debts; he wants to stop banditry and terrorism; he wants to end strikes; he wants to grow Nigeria as an economic powerhouse, and he wants to mend our broken educational and health systems. Perhaps, he will give details of his strategy when the campaign starts officially. He will tell us how he plans to tear down the walls of corruption and tribalism that have become strongholds in our national fabric. He will tell us how he plans to confront those who have bled Nigeria to her knees over these years. These tin gods have not come this far by being merciful or careless. They have ingratiated themselves into all fabrics of our society and will do everything and take every step to maintain the status quo. When we look at how far our country has fallen, we are led to believe Mr. Obi is a dream. He represents the kind of President we want to see; the leader of our dream.
Hounded by trouble from all fronts – insecurity, rising cost of everything including food, energy and even mobile calls, Nigerians yearn for a messiah with the silver bullet. We are looking to see a leader who will embody our hopes and actualise our dreams, so people have pinned hopes on a man who doesn’t look like one of their oppressors. Therefore, Mr. Obi is a dream. In fact, he may be a pipe dream. We are waiting.
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