Obi: The Power Of One Man

By Jude Atupulazi—

What is happening in Nigeria at the moment is very intriguing. I’m talking about the country’s political scene. What we have today is the government in power versus one man. That one man is not Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. It is not Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. It is not Mr. Chibuike Amaechi or any other opposition politician. That one man is a certain Agulu man called Peter Obi.

Now, how it gets intriguing is that Obi is the man they have been taunting, that he is a paper tiger, that he has no structure, that he doesn’t build people, and that he doesn’t give money. These are things that they will tell anyone who cares to listen, which usually help anyone to win elections in Nigeria. Yet, in the 2023 Presidential Election, that man with no structure, no money to share, nobody he has built, and the man whose popularity is only felt and seen on social media, won the election.

He not only won, but he beat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his Lagos stronghold, beat him in the very seat of power Tinubu now occupies (Abuja). Everybody who tells themselves the truth knows who won that election. It was Obi by a mile. But as they did to the late Moshood Abiola, they also did to Obi.

In Abiola’s case, Nigerians had rallied round him as they did to Obi. They did not mind that Abiola, a Muslim, picked a Muslim running mate. They voted for him because they knew he was the better candidate. But as the results of that election kept filtering in and showing Abiola comfortably coasting home, they annulled the election. It was similar to what they did to Obi.

In the 2023 Presidential Poll, results in many parts of the country showed that Obi was coasting home like Abiola, and, afraid that the unthinkable was going to happen, they invented the word” glitches” to stop the electronic transmission of the results to the INEC portal.

This glitch only happened in the Presidential Election, while that of the National Assembly was not tampered with by the glitch. Nigerians knew Obi won. The APC knew that Obi won. Tinubu knew that Obi won. The security agencies knew that Obi won. But they all pretended it was Tinubu that won. They all also said that without the glitches, the election would have been over before noon that day.

Again, in Abiola’s case, the press, largely controlled by the West, started describing Abiola in the aftermath of that election as ”The man widely believed to have won the 1993 election”. This has continued up to today. One would expect that Obi should be described that way too, but, alas, nothing like that. Even his brother here is working hard to prove he was beaten.

As we gear up for yet another Presidential Election, the scenario hasn’t much changed. The masses have lined up again behind Obi and are ready to follow him to any party. They are following him because they see him as someone different from the corrupt pack, as someone they could trust.

Yet again, the powers that be are saying elections are not won on social media. I agree. But in 2023, Obi won on both social media and in the main election before his mandate was stolen. What could he do? Lead a revolution that would have delivered him into the hands of his adversaries, who have been looking for an excuse to nail him? He went to court, their court, and the result was predictable; he lost.

Today, despite the government in power annexing 30 of the 36 states through hook or crook, they are still afraid of Obi, even more than they were of him last time out. They have now resorted to trying to stop him from coming to their states. They have come out with new electoral reforms aimed at throwing banana peels at Obi. They have also tried to kill him.

One will therefore ask, why are they mortally afraid of Obi, who has no structure, who doesn’t build people like Tinubu, and who doesn’t part with money? Why go the extra mile to eliminate him, to intimidate him?

Why are they afraid to conduct a free and fair election despite having 30 governors and the FCT Minister? One would think that Atiku and others didn’t exist and that it was only Obi that constituted the opposition. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Indeed, it can only be the power of one man!