Attempt To Arrest Peter Obi: A Call For Real Protest, An Invitation To Anarchy—LP Youth Wing

The Labour Party’s youth wing has distanced its leader and presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, from any allegations made by presidential aid Bayo Onanuga.
The youths therefore stated categorically that any attempt to unlawfully and illegally arrest Mr Peter Obi will be an affront to Nigerian citizens who believe that a better Nigeria is possible.

In a press statement issued on Sunday, the party’s youth wing said, “Therefore, we ask Nigerian security agencies, whose welfare is equally laughable in comparison to their counterparts around the world, to refrain from being used as a tool to cage citizens from expressing their political views.”
Details about the statement…

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, greetings.

It has come to our attention that one Bayo Onanuga has issued a media release in which he calls for the arrest of Mr Peter Obi.

It is critical to state unequivocally that Mr Peter Obi is the most peaceful Nigerian politician alive today, who, despite the manipulation of his clear electoral victory in the 2023 presidential election, has asked his supporters, primarily youths of my generation, not to engage in any form of protest or agitation.

It should be noted that it only took a statement from Peter Obi for Nigerians to flood that collation centre in Abuja and occupy it.

It should be noted that in this same country, a former president made an inciting statement about making the country ungoverned if he was not elected; eventually, he was not elected, and people were massacred, but that person was never arrested in 2011.

It was also in these country that the current president incited his supporters in the last election to grab his political victory by all means, including fighting for it as power is not served in alarcarte; of course without recourse we saw the compliance in lagos state and many other states where APC were thoroughly defeated by the Labour Party.

Remember that the current president led a protest against President Jonathern’s former government. Many of today’s government officials took part in the 2012 oil subsidy protest. Why are they now afraid of protests?

In fact, the current president, for whom Onanuga works, is one of Nigeria’s protest pioneers, dating back to NADECO.

Given the foregoing, it is clear that Mr Peter Obi is not and has not been found guilty of inciting Nigerians to engage in any form of protest beginning with the buildup to the 2023 election and continuing to this day.

It should also be noted that Peter Obi is a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria who is doing good and making significant contributions to national development.

In recent years, he has provided assistance and basic necessities to many communities across the country as a private citizen, in contrast to many politicians who disappear after an election.

I am aware that the name Mr Peter Obi is a thorn in the flesh of status quo politicians who have refused to acknowledge a paradigm shift in the way things are done all over the world, where the masses are currently making political statements and demonstrating that power belongs to the people.

People in the United Kingdom demonstrated their power. In Kenya, citizens have made strong statements that are currently shaping policies. Those who follow international politics will agree that Africa and the rest of the world are experiencing a revolutionary wave of demand for good governance. Burkina Faso citizens once celebrated a military takeover due to poor governance.

There is no Nigerian who will proudly claim that we have progressed from where our former heroes left us. Our forefathers had scholarships, and today’s leaders are proud to give us student loans; they had good infrastructure, but they left us with no roads, electricity, water, a national rail system, and, sadly, no security for citizens. There are numerous things to say.

We were once known for market-driven agricultural production, but farmlands have now become financial graveyards.

Our heroes have left us with high-quality education for both the poor and the wealthy. Today, we have unhealthy competition in private schools.

School sports and the search for talent at the grassroots level are no longer relevant. Students in Nigeria do not even ask for scholarships, but rather for stable academic credentials that will allow them to complete a four-year programme.

Today, Nigerian workers had to debate, and panels had to be set up to discuss their welfare, which is unbelievable.

Today, when you win an election, the government works for you, while those who lose are clearly intimidated. Is this truly a people’s government run by and for the people?

Despite all of these kakistocratic tendencies, the government does not want the public to react. It is really funny.

Do citizens need Mr. Peter Obi to express their hunger? Do people need Mr. Peter Obi to see the practical inefficiency of the current government? Was it Peter Obi who instructed Seun of Channels to speak with the president during one of the programmes? Was Peter Obi the one who recently prompted Sen Ali Ndume to declare that the APC government is failing? We must refer to a pot as a pot, and a kettle as a kettle.

Nonetheless, we wish to distance our hero of democracy, Mr Peter Obi, from any allegation made by Bayo Onanuga’s wonderful government, and thus state unequivocally that any attempt to unlawfully and illegally arrest Mr Peter Obi will be an affront to Nigerian citizens who believe that a better Nigeria is possible.

In recent years, he has provided assistance and basic necessities to many communities across the country as a private citizen, as opposed to many politicians who disappear after an election.

Our democratic hero must not be arbitrarily arrested as part of Bayo Onanuga’s government blame game.

Mr Peter Obi only wanted to transform Nigeria from consumption to production, and I am confident that if the current government diligently consults him, he will provide them with practical strategies that work. That is governance. Bayo and his colleagues should stop playing the blame game.

Mr Peter Obi has repeatedly stated that he is not desperate to be Nigerian President, but rather to see Nigeria work for its citizens in the same way that other countries around the world do.

Let us not sacrifice our stars to the destructive forces of politics.

Forward, Ever Backward. Never

Prince Kennedy Ahanotu
National Youth Leader