There is nothing like an idea which time has come, so goes a wise saying. From the unravelling scenario in Nigeria’s political landscape, it appears as if it has come time for the nation to achieve the long sought after paradigm shift in its political affairs.
It is a truism that long have the silent majority of Nigerians across socio-cultural, ethno-religious and geographical divides clamoured for a breath of fresh air into the nation’s political leadership. The clamour for a generation shift in the nation’s political leadership became so widespread and strident eventually led to the enactment of the not-too-young-to-run law by the National Assembly. What may have accrued as the gains act however, have been suppressed and denied by the economic realities of our country where neanderthal individuals with ill-gotten wealth, old people who ought to have long retired from all political activity, have hijacked the political process and continue to ride rough-shod over the rest of us.
But there’s real hope on the horizon that all that may change in the coming 2023 Presidential elections. This hope rests on the shoulders of a young and courageous individual of Igbo extraction who goes by the name Peter Obi. More than any other single factor, Obi’s entry into the Presidential race has galvanized the interest of not only millions of Nigeria’s youth, but that of any right thinking Nigerian with the good of the nation at heart. In fact INEC spokesman Festus Okoye was quoted on national television as ascribing the tremendous increase in the current CVR exercise to Obi’s entry into the race.
Apart from his youthfulness which satisfies the yearnings for a generational shift, Obi has other positives going for him that place him in good stead against his two major adversaries. For one, Obi’s brief tenure in public office as Governor of Anambra State exposed him as a prudent manager of resources with an acute acumen for development, very rare attributes in Nigeria’s political leaders.
The clincher, however is that Obi hails from the south-eastern part of the country, a much maligned part which, save for the usual chicanery inherent in the nation’s political system, solely deserves the right to next year’s presidency. As sole candidate from that zone, Obi should be an automatic choice for Aso Villa come 2023. This fact alone appears to be working for Obi as a cursory look at his two most prominent political opponents, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of APC and Atiku Abubakar (PDP), who represent the very political past which Nigerians are fervently trying to forget: alleged international criminals, drug peddlers with dubious academic backgrounds and too much money of questionable origin.
The fact that the God that most suffering Nigerians worship, look up to and believe in (as in, “God dey!”) abhors injustice and immorality, may be the reason why so many spokes are being thrown into the wheels of both parties of the aforementioned behemoths.
It is today no longer news that due to sheer greed and evil calculations, Atiku emerged PDP Presidential candidate in a fully monetized primaries in a party where both its National Chairman, Presidential candidate and BOT Chairman are all from the North, a development which the party’s nemesis, the brash and most irreverent Wike, has vowed not to allow to be swept under the carpet! And Wike has the brashness (and tons of money) to rock the boat.
With it’s adoption of a Moslem-Moslem Presidential ticket, Tinubu’s APC has ignited its own crisis of monumental proportions, leading to its supporters quitting the party in droves.
All of which may turn out in Obi’s favour and uphold nature’s superiority over man’s feeble attempts to manipulate processes. If it does, the ordinary Nigerian will be content that, “Na God catch dem.”
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