“Don’t quit. Never give up trying to build the world you can see, even if others can’t see it. Listen to your drum and your drum only. It’s the one that makes the sweetest sound.” — Simon Sinek
Talking drums are so-called because the drummer can and does mimic human intonations and voice rhythms. By doing so the drummer skilfully conveys the intended message melody. Therefore, the Labour Party standard bearer in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has become the talking drum of our polity. This he does by blowing the whistle and calling a spade by its name. While at it, he also celebrates and encourages the good in us. This newfound job the phenomenal politician has undertaken as an opposition gaffer has helped to make our democracy healthier though it makes some people ill at ease. This man is talking too much, must he talk about everything, they say?
History is on Obi’s side. Throughout history, wherever democracy thrives, the opposition must be robust and well-intentioned. That is to say that without vibrant opposition, the democratic foundation is in quicksand. It means, therefore, that to deepen democracy in Africa, nay Nigeria, one must nurture robust opposition.
Conversely, the bane of democracy in Africa is the absence of robust and enduring opposition. This poor state of affairs leaves the ruling class to be a god unto themselves, holding the knife and the yam and determining who gets what, including the freedoms and oxygen in some cases. This in turn breeds incompetence and a laissez-faire attitude toward the ruling class.
The toughest place to be in opposition is Africa. Choosing to be in opposition is akin to declaring yourself an enemy of the government and whatever a foe gets in any circumstance awaits you. You may end up worse than a leprosy patient in the Judea of Jesus’s time. Nobody wants to associate with you because of the likely consequences, including but not limited to strangulating your business(es). Other associated risks may be life-threatening. Nowhere is the saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” more appropriate than in African politics.
The fact that political positions in Africa are not necessarily to serve the people but to chop from public wealth makes the desperation to join the winning party more attractive and appetizing. The absence of strong opposition is often an invitation to the violent overthrow of elected governments because there is no room to accommodate other views, no matter how well-intentioned. That explains why the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party is like the Catholic Church to which virtually all Christian denominations trace their roots.
In Nigeria’s current political configuration, 70 percent of the political leaders were members of the PDP. The 16 years it held the reins of the Federal Government and once controlled 28 of the 36 states meant it was the place to be if you wanted to chop.
In 2014, an internal revolt in the party led to its overthrow in 2015 by a purpose-built group called the All Progressives Congress. Nine years on, the PDP has remained dethroned, leading to an exodus to the APC. At some point, the National Chairman, National Secretary, Senate President, and Speaker of the House in the APC government were stowaways from the PDP.
At some point, a National Chairman of the APC, while flaunting the gains of membership, said categorically that all “sins” would be forgiven to those who join. This was not just a recruitment gimmick because those who got attracted by this ad got instant pardons for all sins, including embezzlement.
In 2015, soon after the PDP lost power at the federal level, most PDP leaders either went underground or ran away. Also, some immediately started processing forms to join the winning party. The few vocal voices who stayed behind to use the media to shout were abandoned and some suffered the consequences of staying on.
This was how all hopes fizzled out that the PDP would offer robust opposition and further enrich our democracy after ruling for 16 years. For eight years, APC with Muhammadu Buhari ran the country like a clan club and ended up impoverishing not just the people but the country itself.
While the people endured the malady called the Buhari era, they were waiting patiently for the ballot day and the whole hope was on the main opposition PDP to provide the direction. The PDP could not because it was bedeviled by much malaise, a general feeling of discomfort worsened by corruption. At the end of the day, they were so engulfed in internal strife and had to return to continue in opposition. Even as we speak they are so fragmented that they lack what it takes to play the opposition role. The heart and mind of its current leadership are with Tinubu more than with its members.
Peter Obi, the emergent political game changer who had left a disorganized PDP in 2022 to join the Labour Party to pursue his presidential aspiration, surprisingly became the change agent in our polity. In addition to providing the needed potency and issue-driven electioneering, his electoral performance also left political watchers stunned. Those who took him for granted are still in regret, especially in the South-East region.
Many, including legislators and governors of PDP, have opened negotiations to join the ruling APC. Who wants to stay in opposition when it’s now very obvious that the ruling party has everything needed to win an election that excludes the people, the electoral umpire, the security agencies, the judiciary, and the resources to bribe the ever-gullible stakeholders?
The only people not buyable in Nigeria’s political space are the ordinary people, apparently because of their numbers. So the option was to weaponize poverty so that they would fall for anything to survive. It is in such situations that Peter Obi, after his electoral exploits at balloting and in court, has chosen not to join the procured victors but to move on to help deepen democracy. Obi has officially declared himself after the Supreme Court’s bizarre ruling on October 26, 2023, that he is fully in opposition. Despite pressures from even some unexpected quarters to join and get settled, Obi chose instead to lead the opposition as he saw more impact there on growing democracy than joining the bandwagon.
The impact of this new role has been enormous. Besides putting the ruling class on their toes, Obi has also given a voice to the voiceless in their expectations from the government.
It is understandable why the government and its hirelings think Obi is talking too much or dwelling on irrelevancies. But Obi and many of his supporters think otherwise. Those issues they raise may seem minor, but they are what the hoi polloi needs.
Those who want the bad old ways to continue to endure are behind the thinking that Obi is talking too much. Their mentality also derives from our recent past where losers join the winners to chop and keep mum at the expense of the people. In contemporary times, to be seen as a responsible leader in Nigeria is to keep mum… see something, and say nothing. For Obi who has chosen to see something and say something, the pro-government group sees him as irresponsible and a fisher of trouble who hankers after cheap popularity.
But people of that school are also short on history as the late Obafemi Awolowo made his lasting legacy in Nigeria standing up to leadership as opposition and was declared “the best president Nigeria never had.” Fiery activist and leader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was noisy on anything that was against the poor, taking all the risks and going to jail several times. Today, these two leaders in their rights have left a vacuum. Imagine Fawehinmi alive to watch the mess our judiciary has become. Imagine Awolowo alive to watch Buhari sit in the Aso Rock Villa and operate as head of the Fulani emirate for eight years.
Here is Peter Obi who, after adding flavour to electioneering, has chosen at his own expense and risk to keep the opposition camp alive. Rather than encourage him, opinion is divided that he is talking too much. Who regulates the talking, certainly the establishment wanting to maintain the status quo.
However, to many Nigerians desiring a new Nigeria that is possible, Obi is the tenor drum that supplies melody to the music and should keep resonating and reverberating for posterity. God help us.
