By Ikeddy ISIGUZO
TIME to throw all the pretences away. What to do with Peter Obi is still among major challenges Nigerians face as the presidential race revs on reckless gears heading for 2027. He was in 2023. He will continue to raise questions on what Nigerians want. And what we intend to do about it.
Obi is daring, deft, and deaf to the din of traditional political practices. His bravery troubles opponents endlessly.
What do we do with Obi? What do we do without him? Are we ready for Obi and his proposals?
The answers are cures to the hyped hypocrisies masquerading as competence to manage Nigeria. The most intriguing of these nagging issues is the displacement of competence with entitlement.
Obi does not preach. He simply shares in crisp citations evidential proof of what he did in Anambra State as Governor. He intends to replicate them as President of Nigeria when elected. We applaud. Will the matter end there?
Nigerians claim their country is at the brinks. The same Nigerians want someone to pull the country back from the proclivity to accelerating demise. Obi has offered himself. His proposals are clear.
No Governor in his era left the hefty sums, and investments he bequeathed his successor. None of his mates compiled his handover note, revealing cheques that had been left to pay teachers, pensioners, contractors, other obligations. His records in other areas are indisputable.
He then swore an affidavit to authenticate the details of his tenure at a High Court.
The savings he made in local and foreign bonds were worth $156m in March 2014. Nobody has done a fraction of that. He never borrowed; he left no debts.
Obi lifted Anambra State out of the chaos it was. He ignored the fat cats that dubbed themselves godfathers. He rescued a State that had adopted rambunctiousness as its alias.
He is not earning any pension from Anambra State, at a time Governors across Nigeria approved hefty pensions for themselves – there are few exceptions.
Alas, other things impress Nigerians, chiefly, how much someone is willing to give them to get into office. The season of harvests for political merchants is already near.
Many aspirants have lined up seemingly for the same mission. Many words are being tossed about in line with the season. What stands Obi out is the clarity of his thoughts, exampled by his works as Governor, and his understandable positions on every issue.
Obi has built on his competence to court a nationwide following that is not procured through a heavy pocket. There are more differences.
He is frugal. He lives it. People mock him for his simplicity that abhors the pomp of office. He reminds Nigerians that the country is in dire straits and needed to be cured of its wastefulness.
Parts of the wastes are repeated with dedicated choice of leaders that take us to booming doom.
President Muhammadu Buhari remains a sterling example. Those who chose him to feed their selfishness spent the years defending his bumblings. They blame everyone except the man and themselves for his serial failures. They continue praising him to feed their future.
Nigeria is bound for further doldrums if measures that can redeem it are mixed up with choices that eat our tomorrow, today.
Obi is ready to offer innovative service that would strip Nigeria of the huge baggage she lugs around as it tries to make progress. Obi is that opportunity.
He is not a saint. If he were, he probably would not be in the race. His demonstrated abilities to turn around situations should count for something beyond annoying opponents as his charity does.
Do the heights he expects Nigeria to attain matter? What are others offering? What did they do with past opportunities? How are they managing Nigeria’s resources?
If we ignore Obi, we would have chosen to continue with the next level of nothingness. We can change for better when we join Obi to make a difference in our lives as a people, and a country.
The choice remains the same as in 2023 when Nigerians decided. Were we not aware then? What has changed?
Nigeria has worsened. The divisions have widened. We can no longer agree on what a crime is though laws define it. Hardly anything makes meaning any more.
Obi stands distinct from the distractions that are thrown at Nigeria’s flimsy chances of making any meaningful progress under the guises of party squabbles, insecurity, hunger and a poverty that tempts even saints to be perfidious.
Obi is a judgement on who majority of Nigerians are – lovers of hypocrisy.
Finally…
IF we are what we eat, what are those who have nothing to eat? Food prices are still soaring. The determination of our leaders to nurture poverty is disturbing.
WHO will be the next President? Political profiteers, prophets, plain thieves, who live on the gullible, are whispering names, making millions in the process. Some claim the Almighty has told them!
SENATE President Obong Godswill Akpabio has assured Plateau State that the killings would end soon. “As the President of the 10th Senate, I hear you loud and clear, and be rest assured that your travails will be given the needed attention and response from the relevant agencies,” Akpabio said at a funeral in Jos. Can we start a countdown to peace in Plateau? Only Plateau?
.ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues
