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-Who buys my thoughts by Dennis Osadebay
The anger of the youths is valid! It is very true Nigeria is a country destined for greatness but for too long she has been ruled by people with small minds. The breakdown in infrastructure, incoherent policy direction, corruption, incompetence, and others has been stumbling block in the wheel of progress. After six decades of independence employment is over 30%, the poverty rate is very high one of the highest in the world and it seems Nigeria is maligned from all sides. The rage of the youths is not only expected but realistic, their future is desperately hanging in the balance. The youths and all forward-thinking people earnestly believe there should be a democratic revolution. This seems to be one of the critical thinking that drove the just concluded election in Nigeria.
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– Mathew 7:15
Three candidates emerged as front-line contestants, Tinubu in APC, Atiku in PDP, and Obi in LP. Obi took advantage of the Endsars climate and quickly self-styled himself as a representative of the democratic revolution that Nigeria urgently needs. The youth found it convenient to align with Obi because he was the youngest among the three major contestants, as matter of fact he made it a point to even display his aerobatic abilities by jogging in viral videos forgetting that In leadership age does not necessarily cut the chase. Perhaps the rage against the two major political parties beclouded the youth from our electoral history and processes.
Obi fielded himself as the messiah of the time forgetting that revolutionary heroes are forged through the furnace of selfless advocacies and constructive activisms. Obi does not only lack the foundation, creativity, and charisma to win an election in a multifarious society and lead a democratic revolution. Obi has no credentials of a revolutionary democrat. He has failed to show a course big or small that he has put his life or resources on the line for. Despite the rage and bitter spewing against Tinubu, history bears witness to the prize he paid by putting his life on the line for democracy.
Obi was governor for eight years but he was never on the list of the most outstanding governors of his time, his government didn’t reveal outstanding innovation and leadership. Anambra saw the highest level of kidnapping and social unrest in his time as the Governor. Rather Than building the necessary foundation/structure for his presidential ambition, he lacks the patience to work with people, and as such he proliferated and galivanted from one party to the other: from APGA to PDP and then the Labour Party. Obi was not only a former Governor; he is a clear product and beneficiary of the same system that the youths are aiming to do away with. He is part of the Elites and political ideology that shaped the Nigeria of today which is averse to our aspirations.
For Peter Obi to have positioned himself as an oddity in the Nigerian political space is not just an act of hypocrisy but a cheap sell that can only be swallowed by simpletons, desperate people, religious bigots, and tribal bigots. Obi is undeserving of the role he has placed himself in. You cannot paint a rotten apple and call it ripe!
In desperation, Peter Obi decided to ride on the Clergies’ disapproval of the Muslim- Muslim ticket by going to selected Churches for the campaign forgetting that the electorates comprise Christians, Muslims, and Traditionalists, the height of his bigotry was when he tagged the election a religious war! Rather than winning he handed over the win to Tinubu in APC by dividing the usual Opposition votes. Obi was a tool for APC’s victory in the 2023 presidential election. For me, the true test of his character is how he handles losing the election. Here we are: the leopard cannot change its Color. The duo of Peter Obi and Ahmed Baba Datti : typical Nigerian politicians, bad losers seeking to disrupt the polity by inciting their followers and going as far as wishing form an interim government, our democratic process should be put on hold for one man’s ambition?
The outcome of the 2023 presidential election holds an important lesson for the youth and anyone involved in political mobilization. Firstly, leading a political movement with the wrong people will not only lead to a loss, but it will also hand over victory to your political enemy. Secondly and most importantly, Good or great intentions are not enough there is always the need for a clear-cut strategy. How could a party come third and claim to have won the election? How can a political party with just 6 senators out of 109, 34 representatives out of 360, and 1 governor out of 36 claims to have won a presidential election? Just how? Is democracy a magic or Nollywood caricature? Democracy is a process and not a magic wand. How can you climb to a tree top without stepping on the branches? When did the election become an isolated event? Our historical data and patterns prove that political victory is a function of good structure, strategy, and antecedents.
To his credit obi has polluted the Nigerian political space with the most toxic and repugnant politics since 1999 turning youths against themselves, the elders and their parents, tribes against tribes, and religion against religion. What a way to go and a legacy to live behind.
The Election of 2007 is considered the worst election ever in Nigeria even the highest beneficiary of the election (Late President Yaradua) confirmed it. It seems that Chimamanda Adichie was still in political puberty, lacking in courage to write against injustice, oh probably because President Buhari the then opposing candidate is not an Igbo man. The Elections of 2015 and 2019 were regarded by many as being rigged but Chimamanda threw away her pen, is it because Atiku the Opposing candidate was not an Igbo Man.
In the southeast region where Chimamanda hails from, schools and businesses are closed every other day because of the Activity of the IPOB the militant group terrorizing the region, over 200 security personnel have been killed by the IPOB and the IPOB themselves claimed that 20,000 of her members have been killed which are all south easterners, in all this Chimamanda seem to have found nothing to write about.
When Peter Obi, an Igbo whom she openly campaigned for lost the election, Chimamanda suddenly found her courage, pen, and paper to write against the electoral process and lawlessness. What a display of tribal bigotry? Writers who are piloted by the tribe are nothing but a shame to the trade, Chimamanda should not hide under the pretext of fighting for justice to push a tribal agenda it won’t work.
The letter would have been less of a joke if it was written to African Union or United Nations rather than the United State president 500 years after slavery and 100 years after colonialism and imperialism.
Like any other Election across the world the Nigerian election is not perfect neither is our democracy perfect but since 1999 till date, there is no election that has expressed the wish and diversity of the people like the election of 2023. The alternative platform which you wrote about in your letter rose on the performance of INEC as an electoral body. Yes, INEC needs to work more on meeting its mandate which is to organize a credible election but looking at where we are coming from progress has been made although the same challenges confronting us as individuals and a community is the same as INEC as an institution and they are numerous. I must confess a lot still need to be done. There is a need for INEC to Increase its technical capacity and improve on her just in time management.
Therefore Chimamanda, I encourage you to write more open letters, fight against injustice, and fight for the youths, the world needs more of this at this particular time but stop pushing the tribal agenda. Nigeria has outgrown such kind of politics. Yes, we need a democratic revolution since yesterday but not a quickened artificial democracy fertilized by tribalism, religious bigotry, and political opportunism!
What we need in this country is not division or a tribal agenda. What we need is a grand vision that captures, the dreams, vision, and aspirations of the teeming millions of youths, there is an urgent need to open up a new economic frontier, reform education, and instill a deep reading culture and a penchant for research. We urgently need to set a progressive agenda politically, culturally, and socially.
Hon. Adeyemi Abidemi
Founder African Reading Culture
