Peter Obi: There’s a new movement happening in Nigeria right now. For the past seven years, Nigeria has been lamenting and crying for freedom, much like the biblical story of the Israelites. Nigerians have been calling out for someone to save them from the hands of Pharaoh. The journey to the promised land has not been an easy one for the nation, and the last person to shout “change” is also the architect of the trauma in the land. Nigerians truly want a Moses, but who can they trust?
As the cries for a competent leader with integrity and a track record of success grew louder, this man came along. He is regarded, both in the private and public sectors, as an honest man whose record seems too good to be true. But is he the one, or should Nigerians wait for another? This is the story of Peter Obi, the movement that has taken Nigeria by storm.
A Visionary Leader
You need a visionary, someone with collected, competent leadership to start turning this around. Peter Obi is from the eastern part of Nigeria, born on the 19th of July, 1961, in Onitsha, Anambra State. This was just six years before the brutal war between his native Igbo tribe and the Nigerian state.
A war that has been used by the opposition faction to discredit his ability to lead a united Nigeria, questioning Mr. Obi’s loyalty to the Nigerian cause. This is a cheap political attack by his opponents, trying to score cheap points, because you see, Peter Obi is not part of the political establishment. In fact, he’s not a politician in the sense of the word.
Humble Beginnings and Strong Values
Even though little is known about his upbringing, Mr. Obi’s parents laid the foundation for the man he is today. His father is believed to be one of the few rich men of the Igbo tribe before the Nigerian civil war. The family owned the popular “Ideal Soul Supermarket” in Onitsha. However, his father’s death in 1968, when Peter was barely seven, and the effects of the Civil War crushed the supermarket business. They, just like every other Igbo citizen of Nigeria at that time, had to restart their lives with just 20 pounds. A new beginning that gave Obi the values he has today. “I’m not desperate to be president, it’s not. Nor am I desperate to be anything. And that’s where I want to see Nigeria work”.
Peter Obi’s mother struggled to raise him and his siblings after the war. Because of the family background and the discipline of Obi’s mother, men who married newly then would bring their wives to Mama Agnes to train them. She had a domestic training program where young girls were groomed into better wives for their husbands. They were also taught skills like weaving, baking, and sewing, among other things.
From Entrepreneurship to Corporate Success
Obi is not just frugal or “stingy,” as many want you to believe. He is also not just good at saving money, but these qualities were developed through the many training programs he has received over the years. Mr. Obi did his primary and secondary school education in his hometown of Onitsha before proceeding to the University of Nigeria Nsukka in the neighboring state of Enugu. During his days in primary school, he showed interest in entrepreneurship, selling kerosene in bottles within his local community. This selling skill, developed early, impacted his decision to further his education at the Harvard Business School, where he completed two major programs. His love for excellence then pushed him further to the London School of Economics, Columbia Business School, and the International Institute for Management Development.
With these many qualifications, he rose through the corporate ladder in the private sector, leading various private companies in Nigeria. He was also on the board of three big banks in Nigeria, one of which is Fidelity Bank, becoming the youngest chairman in the history of the bank in 2001.
A Reluctant Politician Challenging Godfatherism
“The program wasn’t being what he expected, and a group of people approached him, saying, ‘You go, you plan to contest in 2003.’ ‘I’m going to be 60 in 2003. Nobody who is not 60 years old can govern Anambra State'”. Mr. Obi’s journey in the public sector has been more of a call to duty than an act of desperation to be in power. He came into political prominence as an unwilling politician. He was virtually drafted by the elites of his home state, Anambra, to save the state from the hands of a certain cabal running the politics of godfatherism.
You see, godfatherism is a system whereby a group of wealthy crooks and political criminals capture a state for their own profits. They do this by sponsoring a politician into office and then leaning on him like a mafia boss to make sure that the government official channels a percentage of the state’s resources and monthly allocation into their bank accounts. The percentage is usually so high that most states with Godfathers are no longer able to pay the salaries of their workers or embark on any serious project to better the lives of their people[cite: 9, 10, 11]. These cabals determine who should be the local government chairman, who should be representatives at the National Assembly, and even the State Assembly. The political office holders become dogs, and the puppet masters hold the leash.
When Peter Obi entered politics on his return to Nigeria, he went through the established ruling party of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the time, but things didn’t work out so well, and he left for APGA. “This is not the first time I left PDP”.
The Fight for Anambra State
Mr. Obi would go on to run for the Anambra State governorship election in 2003 on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) against Chris Ngige of PDP. He won the election, but the Godfathers in Anambra State made sure the PDP candidate was declared the winner of that election. This was when Peter Obi displayed the fighting spirit that has seen him succeed ever since. “Then lose doing the right thing, then win doing the wrong thing”.
The case dragged on for three years. In that time period, the Godfathers got richer, and Anambra was held hostage by different political thugs. Obi later won the case and was rightly declared the winner of the election on the 15th of March, 2006. But again, he wasn’t allowed to govern his people. “I was impeached for three reasons. One, my office had an approved budget to be renovated for 298 million naira. I reverted everything to 43 million, 200,000. My launch to repair it is very large and ready.
A Legacy of Prudent Management
This government was noted for the frugal management of state resources. He blocked all the loopholes that state officials were using to steal public funds. He was able to pay and clear the arrears of debts, salaries, pensions, and gratuities owed by civil servants in the state. He invested heavily in education, equipping all high schools in the state with computers, improving teachers’ and students’ welfare in the process. “People said to me, ‘How were you able to save money?’ It was very simple. All we did was to shut down the cost of governance. In eight years, I never had a governance watch in Abuja”.
Peter Obi became the first governor in Nigeria’s history to leave money he saved up for his successor, up to 75 billion naira. He would later leave the APGA, returning to PDP in October of 2014. On leaving office, Peter Obi became a special advisor on finance to then-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who also appointed him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The “Obidient” Movement
Barely weeks to the PDP presidential party primaries, Obi, who was among the frontrunners for the party’s presidential ticket, left the PDP once again. His reasons were personal. This refusal to bribe delegates with dollars to vote for him or use public funds to pursue an ambition led him to the Labour Party, where Nigerian youth had been waiting for him. And like a hero, he was welcomed with open arms. This gave birth to the biggest political movement in Nigeria’s recent history.
This is like an extension or a continuation of the #EndSARS movement that came to a halt with the massacre at Lekki Tollgate. Prior to the PDP primaries, Nigerian youths organized themselves and staged a protest action before the PDP Secretariat, asking the People’s Democratic Party delegates to give them Peter Obi as their presidential candidate. The good people of Nigeria have woken up, and they are simply saying, “This movement needs a face to it, and the person we want is Peter Obi. Just give us Peter Obi, for crying out loud! This is a man without a trace of corruption to his name, and he is also the only candidate who speaks to the crucial issues affecting the country”.
The PDP succumbed to the pressures of cash at its primaries, and their loss is Nigeria’s gain. Since being declared the presidential candidate for the Labour Party, Peter Obi has, in a few months, ushered in a new narrative into the Nigerian political discourse. It is no longer, “What will you give us to vote for you?” but “What will you do for the nation if we trust you with our future?”. Youth are volunteering for his campaign in droves, shutting down many highways and business activities to declare their support for him. It seems like the coming of some Messiah, if you know what I mean. People are using their own money to print campaign materials for him and distributing them. Many others are designing online campaigns and deploying the power of the internet to push their vision. Every word, every single thing he says trends. Nigerians have found their leader. This is giving people hope that this could be it.
Of course, there are pushbacks against Peter Obi from the political establishment, some trying to recycle him, saying he has no chance because he is not aligned with the Godfathers and criminals pillaging Nigeria. The major political parties are criticizing Obi’s chances with the claim that he has no structure to win the presidency. But the youth of the country have countered that claim, saying they are the only structure that matters at this time.
But the question is, will it be enough? I don’t want to pretend I know the answer to that question, like, “Will he win it or not?”. And if he doesn’t, what happens to this movement? What becomes of Nigeria and Nigerians who have had their hopes dashed time and again?. I guess we just have to keep the faith, believing in the system, and above all, go out there and vote. Hopefully, that will be enough.
Credit: Jude Bela
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