https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyeka_Onwenu
JAZZHOLE, Me and PLATO's Republic
Last Wednesday, August 2, 2023, I went to JAZZHOLE, the largest bookstore for the Nigerian intelligentsia located on the Awolowo Road in Ikoyi on Lagos Island of Nigeria.
I often go there to visit Olakunle Tejuosho, the Co-founder and CEO of JAZZHOLE and Glendora Bookshops whenever I wanted to have cerebral moments of intellectual discussion on literature, the reading culture and political leaders of Nigeria.
We are both old boys of the famous St Gregory's College on the Island where I became a child celebrity at 13 when I won the first prize in a national essay competition followed by the beautiful Elizabeth Banjo, daughter of the famous Emeritus Professor Ladipo Ayodeji Banjo, CON.
I was standing, because I did not want to stay long. But as I decided to sit down, suddenly a hardcopy book fell to my feet from the bookshelf beside me. As I picked up the book, it was PLATO's "Republic"! One of his famous books and an all time classic and one of my favourite books.Written around 375 BCE, it is regarded as Plato's best-known work, and one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically.
This book is highly recommended for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON and Peter Obi, CON
#jazzholelagos
#Chima
#Plato
#repubiic
#jazz
#music
#books
#literature
#intellectual
#stgregory
#college
#reading
#culture
#politics
#leadership
#leaders
#Nigeria
#Tinubu
#peterobi
In the House of Stupidity
Majority of the artistes who were jumping on the bandwagon of the "Obidients" political movement of Peter Obi before the presidential election on February 23, were in Abuja on Thursday May 25 celebrating and performing at the Renewed Hope live concert for the President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu after collecting millions of naira.
Nigeria Elections: what happened?
Dear Peter Obi,
When you joined the former national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP), you were politically initiated into the cult of political Mafia of the rulers of Nigeria since 1970. They wanted you to become the Vice President to President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,GCON, another Dr. Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme; GCON (21 October 1932 – 19 November 2017) the Vice President of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983 during the Second Nigerian Republic serving under President Shehu Shagari as a member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). But when you left the PDP to join the Labour Party (LP) , you altered their political master plan.
They will never allow an Igbo man to be President of Nigeria.
President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn in as the new democratically elected President of Nigeria.
Nigeria is ruled by political corruption. So, the presidential election was just political camouflage.
The political ignorance and stupidity of majority of Igbos is the fact that they don't realize that the Hausas, Yorubas and allied tribes of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are not ready to let anyone of those who wanted to separate from the sovereignty become the President of Nigeria.
Majority of the suppprters of Peter Obi are Igbos who are also supporting the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) fighting for the restoration of Biafra.
The political cabal of northern Nigeria will not hand over the reins of power to an Igbo political leader to become the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces. That can be dangerous for the national security of the federation, because majority of the Igbos in the military can now be fully equipped to take over the country. They will now achieve their dream of Biafra.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Neocolonial Stupidity and Tribal Political Hypocrisy of Those Calling for US/UK Visa Bans on MC Olumo, FFK and Others
2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria: Delusions of Grandeur of Peter Obi, Chimamanda and the Obidients
The followers of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) need a reality check for their bloated political Delusions of Grandeur for his victory in the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
Making the loudest noise does not mean you are making sense.
Emotional immaturity, intellectual insecurity and political hypocrisy of majority of them are glaring from their widely circulated lies of demagogy and now worsened by the intellectual hypocrisy of the celebrated Nigerian novelist and feminist, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie who is misinforming the ignorant foreign news media on the current affairs in Nigeria. She has been posing and posturing in conceit and deceit to show Peter Obi as a new political personality. A lie.
She has known him since he became the Governor of Anambra State in South eastern Nigeria from March to November 2006, February to May 2007, and June 2007 to March 2014 as a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and later decamped to the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014.
He was in the PDP when the party lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election.
He was a leading member of corrupt and incompetent administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP that failed to tackle the insurgency of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in northern Nigeria and failed to rescue the unfortunate hundreds of Chibok secondary school girls abducted by Boko Haram in April, 2014.
On 12 October 2018, Peter Obi became the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 presidential election and they lost to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Oluyemi Osinbajo of the APC.
When Peter Obi was in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie rejected the national honour given to her by the Nigerian government.
She and Obi are from the same Anambra State and of the same Catholic Church.
In May 2022, Obi became the Labour Party nominee for President of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election, after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party.
Living in denial of the truth is foolishness.
It is delusional for the followers and supporters of Peter Obi to claim that he won the 2023 presidential election held on February 25 as the presidential candidate of the dysfunctional Labour Party (LP) without formal functional offices in the 36 states and federal capital of Abuja.
During the last presidential election in 2019, LP had only 5, 074 votes nationwide for the presidential candidate Alhaji Muhammed Usman Zaki and his running mate, Chief Ezekiel Akpan.
LP has had only one state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who ran successfully as Governor of Ondo State under the banner of the LP for a period of two terms (2009-2017). Then he returned to the PDP in 2021.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu achieved more than all the state governors combined as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 - 2007.
He made Lagos attractive to FDI.
His economic blue print made Lagos the 4th biggest economy in Africa: the Startups capital of Africa and with the most Unicorns and attracted Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
Majority of people attacking the APC do not understand the indices of human capacity development and achievements of Nigeria under the government of the APC.
Over 10 million new jobs have been created since the administration of the APC came to power in 2015.
Most of the jobs have been created in Lagos.
Lagos is the best and safest state to do business in Nigeria.
The economic development master.plan of Bola Tinubu, include the Eko Atlantic City; the Lekki Port Project, a $1.5 billion project to develop Lekki port in Lagos.
The acceleration of any ecosystem depends on the environment.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu made Lagos the best place to do business in SubSaharan Africa.
Achievements of the Administration of the APC
Majority of the supporters of Peter Obi are ignorant of the unprecedented achievements of Nigeria under the dynamic economic policies of the administration of the APC since 2015 - 2023.
The booming fintech sector created more than 2 million jobs from the POS vendors on every street to those trading on the internet with over 300,000 online traders.
There were over 41 million micro-enterprises in Nigeria in 2017, which represented over 99 percent of the micro. And the numbers have increased.
Number of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria in 2017.
For more details, contact Sylva Ifedigbo
Head, Clients and Markets Development, PwC Nigeria
https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/events/nigeria-sme-survey.html
$256 billion: The total sum of money Nigerians transferred electronically in 2019.
Digital payments in Nigeria have surged more than fivefold since 2014, hitting 105 trillion naira ($256 billion) by 2019. This rise was partially fueled by companies like Flutterwave and Paystack, which developed easy-to-use payment solutions for individuals and businesses.
This is why it wasn’t a surprise when U.S. payments giant Stripe paid over $200 million to acquire Paystack in October 2020, or Tiger Global valued Flutterwave at over $1 billion in March. Others are also getting involved: The Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS) and Interswitch have developed infrastructure like real-time transfers that fintechs rely on.
https://restofworld.org/2021/five-nigeria-fintech-stats/#/256-billion-the-total
All these unprecedented achievements happened during the administration of the APC with the visionary leadership of President Muhammad Buhari and tech savvy Vice President Oluyemi Osinbajo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-jjMBCgthM
The acceleration of any ecosystem depends on the environment.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu made Lagos the best place to do business in SubSaharan Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of Igbos did not come out to vote on Saturday, February 25, because of their fear of attacks by different fringe elements of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
that threatened to enforce the Sit-At-Home order declared by the Simon Ekpa-led faction of IPOB that the 2023 general elections will not take place in the South East geo-political zone of the country.
Peter Obi has not condemned the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and this has implications for his presidential ambition, because majority of Muslims and others, especially non+Igbos who are against the breakup of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will not vote for him.
It is even unbelievable that Peter Obi defeated Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos State, the home state of the presidential candidate of the APC!
Wherever the LP won, they were happy and even claimed that they should have won more votes than the national ruling party of the incumbent administration of the Nigerian government.
How can you claim you have won in more states than the APC that has been ruling the federal government since 2015 to date; with 22 governors in 22 states of the 36 states in Nigeria; majority of Senators in the Senate; majority of members in the House of Representatives and the Houses of Assembly in the 36 states with functional offices in all the states and in Abuja.
Peter Obi and the Labour Party cannot win the presidential election in more states than the national ruling party.
Peter Obi actually exploited the gullibility and political naivety of majority of Nigerians by widespread defamation of the personality of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and labelling the APC as an evil political party and lied that the APC has failed in the administration of the federal government. They deliberately ignored the outstanding achievements of the APC since 2015 to date.
The Labour Party accused the APC of rigging the presidential election. But I have a video showing the LP rigging the election.
They lied by calling Peter Obi "Mr. Clean" and incorruptible politician. But Peter Obi was linked to the misappropriations of funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when he was a leading member of the former national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, the MD of Fidelity Bank was arrested by the EFCC and he told his interrogators that he was under instructions from Peter Obi, believed to be one of the owners of the bank, to go to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s residence in Abuja for a “financial transaction that could benefit the bank.”
Peter Obi was once the Chairman and is a major stakeholder in Fidelity Bank.
He is among those named in the Pandora Papers for international financial crimes in illicit foreign assets.
PANDORA PAPERS: Inside Peter Obi’s secret businesses — and how he broke the law
Peter Obi serially violated the law by failing to declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau the companies and assets he tucked away in secrecy havens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_Papers
Read the following for more details on the consequences of foreign illicit assets.
This Act governs the freezing, confiscation and restitution of assets held by foreign politically exposed persons or their close associates, where there is reason to assume that those assets were acquired through acts of corruption, criminal mismanagement or by other felonies.16 Aug 2016
https://www.unodc.org › 201...
Foreign Illicit Assets Act (FIAA) of 18 December 2015
The IMF and the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows
Illicit and tax avoidance related financial flows (ITAFF) can have a significant impact on the economic stability of a country and
https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2023/Fight-against-illicit-financial-flows
It is really baffling that Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie would endorse such a character, because they are from the same tribe and church when she should know that suspects in similar situations in the United States of America would have been on trial for their crimes and not contesting for public office.
#Nigeria
#nigeriandecides2023
#NigerianDecides
#presidentialelection
#President
#Tinubu
#Atiku
#PeterObi
#NnamdiKanu
#kwakwanso
#Chimamanda
#Obidients
#Igbos
#IPOB
February 25, 2023 Elections: The Beginning of a New Nigeria
Only Patriotic Nigerians Are Celebrating the Victory of Democracy
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) won the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria that was held on Saturday, February 25. He defeated Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and presidential candidates of other political parties.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 presented the certificate of return to the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
*AN ELECTION...*
An election that has turned Lagos from APC to another party other than PDP;
An election in which El-rufai could not deliver Kaduna;
An election in which Ganduje could not deliver Kano;
An election where Labour Party won in Nassarawa;
An election where atleast 7 popular incubent governors lost their bid for the Senate despite spending massively, to "nobodys" who barely spent anything;
An election where an Okada man and a driver have been reported to have won a seat in the Federal House of Representatives;
An election where the son of a nobody has finally been able to become somebody without the help of anybody;
Yet, you want to rubbish that election?
Because we didn't reverse it all completely?
How do we not see that THE CITIZENS have won already?!
How can we not see that the will of a people has prevailed over established political "structures"!
How can we not see that this is a MASSIVE win for democracy, and then plan to build on this even if the overall result doesn't fall as desired?
How can we not see that this is indeed the first election that the voice of the people has really mattered and has officially killed the age long narrative that *votes don't count*?
Shouldn't we start to celebrate this massive win for Nigeria;
Knowing it's the beginning of massive things to come?
Knowing that something has shifted and true change beckons?
Will blood on the streets be the only indication of change? And what guarantees does that offer?
Do we not see, that what happens from here is the most important thing?
Do we not see that how we build from here, is what matters most?
Do we not yet understand that anger is NOT a strategy and doesn't exactly produce the right result, but it is only an emotion
which, if channelled postively, should birth the right strategies?
Do we not yet see that we have achieved for the first time what has been impossible since the rebirth of our democracy in 1999?!
Are we so blinded by unguided passion that we will rather throw out the baby with the bathwater?
And cannot see that a massive thing just occured?
How many of you calling for blood on the street, is truly ready and willing to shed his/her blood?
Have we not checked history?
Have we not seen that those that died for change still did not fast forward the process of change?
For change still happened completely, ONLY in the process of time.
Can we therefore not see the massive step we have already taken?
And for those shouting, "The violent shall take it by force";
Did you not read your reference completely to understand that violence is the language of KINGDOMS and not DEMOCRACIES?
What exactly do we want?
Outside of the bandwagon mentality and somewhat unguided passion, have we truly defined what we want?
Every election Nigeria has had from 1999, with the exception of NONE, has been marred with protests, disenfranchisement of voters, and violence of massive proportions!
This election is not different, neither is it unique in that regard!
Some of the "tipexing" and "record changing" we have seen, which gives us the illusion that something monumentally wrong happened this time around, has actually been happening in much worse dimensions since 1999.
The only difference which we can't seem to appreciate is that for the first time, we have now been given a system in BVAS, that will shine light on whatever happens in the backend, and therefore, for the first time in our democratic history, the average citizen has been given eyes behind the scenes!
What a WIN!!!
All of this, therefore, makes this
election, the "closest" to CREDIBLE, or if you like, the closest to REALITY that we have ever had!
The pointers are littered all over the results we see!
We must really learn to separate things and not muddle them up with emotions.
We must be sincere enough with ourselves, to know when we have stopped fighting for our country and are just now performing for our individual egos and straddling the lines of arrogance.
If there be any grievances as would legitimately be expected, should we not then go through the established legal framework to address same?
NIGERIA HAS WON!
This election shows that much!
This victory, however, is a continium;
And in our lifetime, we will enjoy the fullness of it!
- *'Laolu Alabi*
February 2023
Peter Obi and the Political Realities of the 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria
Millions of Igbos will not vote for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the presidential election on Saturday February 25, 2023, even though he is the preferred choice of majority of Igbos among his fellow Igbo presidential candidates of the other political parties.
Living in denial of the facts on the political realities in Nigeria is sheer stupidity. Because, these realities will determine the outcome of the presidential election.
There are 371 ethnic groups in the most populous country in Africa; the largest of which are the Yoruba, Hausa and the Igbo. These ethnic groups consist of multiple tribes enumerating up to 371 with about 500 languages.
Majority of non-Igbos don't like Igbos; especially the non-Igbo ethnic groups in Edo State, Delta State, Rivers State, Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, because of the wickedness of the Igbos during the Nigerian civil war from 1967-1970.
They have not forgotten their agonies under the defunct Republic of Biafra before their liberation by the victorious Nigerian Armed Forces.
Igbos Have Ruled Nigeria As President, Military Head Of State And Senate
Only those who don't know the political history of Nigeria will say that the Igbo tribe has been marginalized or deprived of the political leadership of Nigeria. Because the Igbos have had it all even before the Independence of Nigeria from the British Empire on October 1, 1960.
The Right Honourable: Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe was the third and first ever Nigerian Governor-General of Nigeria; the representative of the Monarch of the United Kingdom in Colonial Nigeria and the Nigerian Head of State from 16 November 1960 – 1 October 1963.
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), popularly known as "Zik of Africa", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966.
Preceded by
Position established (Elizabeth II
(as Queen of Nigeria))
Succeeded by
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
3rd Governor-General of Nigeria
In office
16 November 1960 – 1 October 1963
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Preceded by
James Robertson
Succeeded by
Position abolished
1st President of the Senate of Nigeria
In office
1 January 1960 – 1 October 1960
Preceded by
Position established
Succeeded by
Chief Dennis Osadebay
Gen. Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi MVO, MBE (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first Military Head of State of Nigeria.
The Igbos have had more Presidents of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria than any other tribe in Nigeria since 1960 to date.
Senate Presidents of Nigeria
Senate President Term Party
Nnamdi Azikiwe 1960 NCNC
Dennis Osadebay
1960–1963 NCNC
Nwafor Orizu
1963–1966 NCNC
Evan Enwerem
1999 PDP
Chuba Okadigbo
1999–2000 PDP
Anyim Pius Anyim
2000–2003 PDP
Adolphus Wabara
2003–2005 PDP
Ken Nnamani
2005–2007 PDP
The Igbos should stop all their brouhaha over the Office of the President of Nigeria. They have been more favoured in the national leadership of Nigeria than the other tribes.
There are millions of Igbos who will not vote for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), because of the Inter-tribal conflicts and rivalries among Igbos.
Igbos in the Delta State don't like Igbos in the south eastern states
Igbos from Abia don't like those in Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra.
There are deep rooted ethnic rivalries among Igbos.
The 2023 presidential election is a sort of Referendum of the Igbos who want the restoration of their defunct Republic of Biafra and the Igbos who want to belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Peter Obi and Nnamdi Kanu.
It is a contest for the leadership of the Igbos between Peter Obi and the detained Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB.
True members and supporters of IPOB will not vote in the presidential election and other elections in Nigeria.
Because, it is betrayal of the mission of IPOB to participate in Nigerian elections for the sovereignty of Nigeria.
Hundreds of thousands of Igbos will not come out to vote on Saturday, February 25, because of the fear of attacks by different fringe elements of IPOB that will enforce the Sit-At-Home order declared by the Simon Ekpa-led faction of IPOB that the 2023 general elections will not take place in the South East geo-political zone of the country.
Peter Obi has not condemned the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and this has implications for his presidential ambition, because majority of Muslims and others, especially non-Igbos who are against the breakup of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will not vote for him.
Lagos in Motion: The Changing Landscape of Ikoyi
Thursday afternoon on October 27, 2022.
On Alfred Rewane Road (formerly Kingsway Road) in Ikoyi on Lagos Island, Nigeria.
Microsoft office building is the new skyscraper in the background.
I have to include the changing landscape of Ikoyi in the final phase of my "Lagos in Motion" documentary film I started in 2016 with more than 40 hours footage so far. The old famous Ikoyi Hotel has been turned to a residential building beside the Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel.
I passed by my Alma Mater, the famous St. Gregory's College along St. Gregory's College Road to Awolowo Road to Falomo to Glover Road and saw how Ikoyi has changed since my childhood in Obalende. I went to famous Jazz Hole on Awolowo Road and sat down to chat with my old boy, Olakunle Tejuoso, the founder to discuss arts, literature, music and politics of the coming 2023 presidential election with Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and the political momentum of his "Obidients" movement and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Olakunle Tejuoso's family owns the famous Glendora Bookshops in Nigeria where the first copies of my book, "Bye, Bye Mugabe" sold out in 2008 before I withdrew it, because of 21 typographical errors and threw the remaining hundreds of copies away. Olakunle is the author of
"Lagos - A City At Work (The Glendora Lagos Project) and the beautiful and colourful photo book, "ABEOKUTA".
"You should do a new book on Lagos," I said.
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Screen Naija YouTube Channel
#Lagos
#Ikoyi
#hotels
#Abeokuta
#Nigeria
#travel
#tourism
#arts
#books
#movies
#music
#jazz
#Jazzhole
#Glendora
#documentary
#photography
#politics
#history
#Tinubu
#PeterObi
#Obidients
#presidentialelection
#2023presidentialelection
#leadership
#literature
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the dysfunctional Labour Party (LP) and his "Obidients" are currently the most popular Nigerians on the internet and many of the "Obidients" have become cyber bullies on Twitter, Facebook and Nairaland attacking and insulting the presidential candidates of the other political parties in some of the worst derogatory terms of vitriol, including libellous defamation of the character of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Majority of the "Obidients" are ignorant of the nuances of intellectual discourse and ignorant of the intricacies of ethnicity in the demographics of Nigerian politics since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 from the colonial rule of the British Empire and the consequences which caused the first Nigerian civil war between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the secessionists Republic of Biafra in the south eastern region of the Igbo tribe from 1967-1970. Majority of the "Obidients" were born after the gruesome war.
The majority of the Igbo youths have become passionate about the restoration of Biafra as an independent sovereignty and joined the vanguard of the secessionist groups of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and IndigenousPeople of Biafra (IPOB), because they believe the Igbo tribe will be better and greater as an independent nation. Since the civil war, nobody of the Igbo tribe has become the Head of State of Nigeria either in the military regimes or civilian administrations. They have accused the political leadership of the country by the Hausas, Fulanis and Yorubas of deliberately disallowing the Igbos from the leadership of the executive arm of the government of Nigeria. Both the past national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the present national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) have only chosen Yoruba and Hausa Fulani presidential candidates who became elected Presidents of Nigeria, except only Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who succeeded the late President Umaru Yar'Adua as acting President from February 9, 2010 – May 5, 2010 and duly elected President in the 2011 presidential election, the first person from the south-south region to become the President and Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until he was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC.
Majority of the Igbo voters voted for Jonathan, because of their ethnic relationship with his own ethnic group of the Ijaw tribe.
To majority of the Igbos, Peter Obi can become attractive to majority of the voters of Ijaw tribe and the rest of the ethnic groups in the south-south region. But they have Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa who is Ika Igbo as the running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP who they will prefer to see as the Vice President of Nigeria if they win the 2023 presidential election.
Peter Obi: The Acclaimed "Messiah" Without The Credentials - Politics - Nigeria
- By TonyeBarcanista
Since the commencement of the 2023 electioneering season, the term 'Obidient' is a slogan that has dominated the media airwaves, especially on social media. Subscribers to the Obidient slogans are Nigerians that are advocates of Chief Peter Gregory Obi the presidential candidate of Labour Party. Majority of his supporters are driven by rare display of patriotism coupled with the popular yearning for political change in Nigeria, a handful of his advocates have taken to the extreme of portraying him as an infallible mortal that is at par or a little lower than a sacred deity. To this set of people, it is abominable to criticise, question or express displeasure in Obi's credentials or candidacy.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State who until May 23, 2022 was a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party and Presidential hopeful on the Party's platform, is portrayed by his promoters as the long-awaited messiah to deliver the country from the calamity brought upon the country by the Muhammadu Buhari led administration. He is marketed as one with a "frugal" personality in terms of spending (perhaps a miser) who will not allow waste of public resources as President, and will ensure that Nigeria has enough in its reserves like Anambra had under Obi's administration as governor of the state like he (Obi) claimed - though this claim is disputed by his successor, Chief Willie Obiano - but that is a discussion fot another day. Aside his supposed frugality, Obi is portrayed as an incorruptible public officer that has never engaged in financial misconduct while in office. We'll see how true this claim is!
While I agree with the Obi promoters that Nigeria needs a new political leadership that will rescue the country from its current woes and entrench a working system for sustained improvement of the lives of Nigeria citizens, I disagree with them on the choice of Obi as the ideal pilot to lead Nigeria to greatness. Here is an individual that relies in his personal abilities for leadership. Obi has not made mention of any team that he assembled to work with whether while as governor of Anambra state. Even as the candidate of Labour Party, he has no known campaign team (structure) aside Chief Doyin Okupe. Whenever he speaks, he is always about self. The implication here is that as President he will the typical 'Mister Know-it-all' leader, which will be counterproductive to the expectations of Nigerians. But that is not my biggest concern about Obi.
While most citizens are demanding for devolution of power to the grassroot through restructuring of the Nigeria political system, Obi does not come across as a political leader that believe in power devolution. His record as Anambra State governor shows a man that does not believe in the third tier of government; which is supposed to be the closest to the grassroot. While the Constitution of Nigeria empowers State Governments through their State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) to conduct council elections for this tier of government, Obi who became Anambra State governor in March 2006, wilfully elected to run the local government through appointees under the nomenclature of Caretaker Committee in flangrance disobedience to the Constitution. Obi's refusal to conduct council elections drew the anger of stakeholders within and outside Anambra state, including the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) that he was not just a member but the Vice Chairman. The NGF in its report on Peer Review Mechanism that was released on March 18, 2013 (Obi 7th year in office) decried the action of Obi as undemocratic. Mr. Afeikhema Jerome, who was the National Coordinator of the State Peer Review Mechanism NGF, went further to appeal to Anambra Government under Obi “to urgently set the machinery in motion and conduct credible local government elections”.
(please find Premium Times report on the story here: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/127070-ngf-scolds-anambra-ekiti-16-others-over-non-conduct-of-council-polls.html).
inspite the scolding by NGF, Obi still refused to conduct Council election. He waited until 2 months to the expiration of his tenure (ten months after release of NGF report) to eventually conduct it. Specifically, the election was conducted on 11 January, 2014. In other words, Anambra State had no functional governments at the local government level for 7 years and 10 months out of the 8 years of Obi's reign. Many believed that the council election was hurriedly conducted by Obi so as to get necessary structures on ground to mobilize for votes for Chief Willie Obiano, his anointed candidate for the 2014 gubernatorial election of the State.
(See PT publication on NGF report: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/127070-ngf-scolds-anambra-ekiti-16-others-over-non-conduct-of-council-polls.html).
If Obi as Governor stifled the local government system in his state, what magic will he bequeath Nigeria as a whole with respect to power devolution?
Nigeria is plagued with insecurity, terrorism, banditory and insurgency that citizens cannot live their lives freely due to fear of the men of the underworld. The country is in dire need of a leader that will change the tide; but is Obi competent enough to handle such burden? Let's see how he handled similar issue in Anambra State.
As Governor, Obi faced the Biafra agitators under the banner of Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and led by Mr. Ralph Uwazuruike. Obi's solution to address the MASSOB agitation was a declaration of an undemocratic "Shoot-at-sight" order on MASSOB members. The order, which which drew condemnation by many, was issued in June 2006 (3 months into his government), and also extended to members of NARD and "other hoodlums" in the State. As a consequence of the order, security forces combed Onitsha, Nnewi, Oba, Ihiala and environs and were alleged to have shot, killed, and maimed anyone suspected to be member of MASSOB. On 20th January 2013, residents woke up to discover over 40 floating corpses in Ezu River located in Amansea, Awka, Anambra State. Following the discovery, MASSOB through its spokesman, Mr Uchenna Madu (now factional leader of MASSOB), released a statement on 10 February 2013, identified the corpses as that of its members that were arrested by DSS and handed over to Police on November 9, 2012 but disappeared afterwards. He identified some of the bodies as; Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor. Excerpt of the statement reads;
“MASSOB with deep sense of grief and sorrow wishes to inform Mr. Ban Ki Moon (UN Secretary General), President Goodluck Jonathan, US President Barack Obama, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and Amnesty International about the gruesome murder of MASSOB members by the Special Anti Robbery Squared SARS, of Nigeria Police Force, Awkuzu Anambra State. Some of our disguised members and family relations of the detained members were denied access to them. Efforts by our counsel to secure their bail from the police were futile. Our demands for their arraignment before a competent court of law were frustrated by SARS officers. We got information from an insider at SARS headquarters, Awkuzu that armless MASSOB members detained at SARS were secretly killed alongside other robbery suspects. Our lawyers, who confidently waited for their arraignment in January 2013 did not believe that such barbaric, primitive and wicked act could happen because, according to them, a comprehensive police reform on Human Rights was being carried out by the new Inspector General of Police.”
(Ref YNaija: https://ynaija.com/bodies-floating-in-river-are-our-members-secretly-killed-by-security-agents-massob-graphic-image/)
Mr. Uchenna Madu again in November 2013 indicted Governor Peter Obi as being responsible for the killing of MASSOB members through his "Shoot-on-sight" order and even vowed to arrest him afer his gubernatorial tenure. In his own words: “We hold Peter Obi responsible for the killings. This reminds us about the 2006 shoot-on-sight order by Governor Peter Obi who massacred about 2,000 MASSOB members. We shall arrest him and pay him back in his own coin in our own way immediately he steps down as the governor because his recent action of killing MASSOB members will heavily affect APGA chances of winning this election.” Madu spoke on November 14, 2013 while reacting to killing of MASSOB members by security forces the previous day.
(ref: https://www.cknnigeria.com/2013/11/we-ll-arrest-peter-obi-after-leaving.html?m=1)
On April 12, 2014, Mazi Chris Mocha, the Deputy Publicity Secretary of MASSOB released a statement on behalf of Uwazuruike fingering Obi alongside Chief Achike Udenwa (former Imo state governor 1999-2007) and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of ordering killings of MASSOB members extrajudicially. An excerpt of the statement reads; “Mr. Peter Obi and former Imo State governor, Dr. Achike Udenwa, had ordered the killing of MASSOB members between 2003 and 2006 and would be tried in court in due course. Obi had on May 11, 2006 under the Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo deployed over 200 federal troops most of who were of Hausa and Fulani tribes to Onitsha and issued a shoot-at-sight order to them. Thousands of our members were killed, including a pregnant woman and 65 others still missing,”
Read the complete report on Nairaland
https://www.nairaland.com/7261280/peter-obi-acclaimed-messiah-without
The Political Ignorance of Peter Obi and His "Obidients" on the 2023 Presidential Election
The North East and South East have challenges of widespread insecurity caused by homegrown terrorists that will prevent majority of them from voting in the presidential election in 2023.
Many of the people shouting "Obidients" don't have and will not have PVCs on the date of the presidential election.
Both Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and his followers are politically ignorant of the fact that the presidential election will be won by political expediency and not by popularity on the internet.
I have already seen several opportunists who want to exploit this popularity in various sharp practices.
Peter Obi has never won any election on self recognizance, but by the tribal hegemony of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the South East region of the Igbos.
The majority of Igbos will most likely vote for him. But outside the region, the Labour Party cannot win any state for Peter Obi even if all the Igbos in these states vote for him. Majority of non-Igbos will not vote for him. And without their votes he cannot win the presidential election.
Majority of the so called "Obidients" on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp groups and Nairaland are ignorant of horrifying communal wars going on between the Igbos and other tribes. These hostilities will favour Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the incumbent national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election.
The fate of Nigeria in the general elections in 2023 will be decided by existential realities and not by emotional sentiments.