Peter Obi’s poignant peregrination

Peter Obi Interview

Like a gold fish that has no hiding place, frontline PDP presidential contender Mr. Peter Gregory Obi is capturing the imagination of an entire country. That a whirlwind of support for his presidential ambition has lifted from practically every region of Nigeria, battered ethnic, religious and geographical barriers along the way to successfully whip up sentiments of support especially among young Nigerians paints in generous, gripping strokes the image of a man Nigerians believe can take them out of the doldrums – a rarity among Nigerians. In fact, an oddity.

The last vestiges of doubt that the waters have come up to Nigeria`s neck like the Psalmist have been brutally wiped out. Wherever one looks in Nigeria, it is ruin that calls unto ruin. Wherever one turns to in Nigeria, it is insecurity that calls onto insecurity.

In Maradun, Zamfara State, terrorist bandits in asking people whose only means of livelihood is farming not to farm in this farming season and killing them for it may have supplied the last nail in the coffin of a long-suffering people who have shown extraordinary fortitude in the face of so much suffering.

Somewhere in the forests of Kaduna State where terrorists are  setting up their camp, over sixty passengers abducted from the deadly train attacks of March 28,2022  remain in captivity waiting for a country that may never come.

In Sokoto and Bauchi States, criminals frothing at the mouth over a perceived slight to their religion roast and seek out more victims for their baleful born fires roast while they mock the secular status of the Giant of Africa.

In Anambra State, amidst the riotous disruption of a regions security and economy, heads roll to roll the last dice in the IPOBs experiment with pressure. In Lagos State Nigeria, one collapsed building swiftly follows another as if in simulation of a country crumbling block by block.

Nigerian undergraduate students remain stuck at home as the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government engage in their annual disconcerting duet of delusions and distractions.

The rising cost of living sweeping across the country like a cyclone is ripping bread off the tables of families that otherwise had entire bakeries to themselves.

These near-apocalyptic turn of events are happening even as Nigeria remains in the midst of a ‘messiah’ experiment and experience. It was in 2015 that the PDP`s toxic experiment with political sorcery finally met its waterloo when rampant corruption and an inexplicable failure to provide the dividends of democracy served as the drop of water that caused the beaker to overflow for Nigerians.

As the elections drew near, the PDPs stark failures in office were not helped by the well-oiled propaganda machine of the All Progressives Congress which effortlessly sold Nigerians short on the candidacy of Mr. Muhammadu Buhari. Painting him as the messiah Nigeria needed, Nigerians decided to take a leap the dark than remain in the stygian darkness foisted on the country by the Peoples Democratic Party. The ear-splitting noise of the APCs propaganda machine also served to drown out legitimate concerns over Mr. Buhari`s military past and religious inclinations. He was the messiah Nigeria needed. Today, Nigerians are stuck in the middle of the ‘messiah’ experiment.

Thus, Nigerians must be wary of those who put themselves forward as having the elixir that the Giant of Africa needs. Nigerians must be wary of those who presume to have the alchemy that will revamp the Nigeria`s economy and security.

With the primaries about to go down, squirrels and scoundrels including many of those who have ripped Nigeria and Nigerians apart at various levels are scurrying around, presumptuously regaling Nigerians with tall tales about how they will fix Nigeria. A roaring red flag that immediately gives them away as fraudulent is that many of them have had no previous experience of fixing anything. Instead, many of them, when they had the opportunity, complicated the Gordian knot which now grip the feet of the Giant of Africa. It is at this point that they go their separate ways from Mr. Peter Obi.

The two-time former Anambra Governor speaks from the same dais from which he transformed Anambra State between 2006 and 2014. A child favoured by fate, he it was who like Prometheus stole the fire of electoral emancipation from Nigeria`s political titans and gave it to the people. His extraordinary fortitude in going after his mandate stolen under the complicit supervision of some of those who now wish to serve Nigerians forced the hawk to give up the chick after three years. He was in the thick of things when electoral history was written, then rewritten in Anambra State, which template was soon followed in other states.

While it is true that the road between ideas and reality is a forbiddingly long one, to hear Mr. Peter Obi speak about his ideas for Nigeria is be sucked into the depths of the experience and imagination of one who has done it before to rapturous applause and admiration.

The sterling work he did as governor of Anambra State continues to stand out till this day. That he did so much while battling forces   determined to keep the ‘Light of the Nation’ state rooted to the spot makes it even more impressive. Many Nigerians recently trooped out to identify with his ambition during a nationwide show of support for him on May 21, 2022.

To say that Nigerians are tired of the current state of the country is to put it mildly. When the Peoples Democratic Party convenes for its primaries very soon, it will be confronted by the choice of Peter Obi as the man many Nigerians want. The Party will then have to decide whether to give Nigerians that choice or not.

But there can be no mistake about it. To miss the opportunity to give Nigerians Peter Obi is to   miss the opportunity to give the Giant of Africa a historic chance at becoming the country it has long promised to be.

 

Kene Obiezu,

keneobiezu@gmail.com

 

 

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