The reason the Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, is the issue in the political space today is because he has the message that resonates with the people.
He is the only person whose message is addressing the challenges confronting Nigerian people.
Obi is also not a theory man who talks but can’t do. He as Governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014 has proven beyond reasonable doubt that what he says he does. In fact in the local jargon, ‘Obi is a talk-na-do person’
The main opposition party, the PDP, lost it when it failed to see in Obi the man of the moment and of the future. By causing Obi to exit the party, PDP denied itself the huge opportunity of righting its wrongs using the quintessential man whose philosophy addresses the heart of the problems in the country.
Either by divine intervention or by accident, the two leading parties have been behaving as if working for Obi’s interest unknowingly. The kind of flag bearers the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) elected have made journey smooth and easy for Obi and his Labour Party.
The choice of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar by the PDP and former Lagos state Governor Bola Ahmad Tinubu by the APC shows clearly the insensitivity of the two leading political parties to the pitiable state of Nigerian people. In fact, there is no bigger insult to the psyche of Nigerians more than that these type of persons are being projected to take over from President Muhammedu Buhari.
While The whole World is desiring that Nigeria get out of the box and get it right in 2023, the APC and PDP instead are setting the hand of clock back by bringing the people who were instrumental to the problems.
It’s an indisputable facts that the two biggest cog in the wheel of development in the country since 1999 due to their lifestyle and approach to governance are the two men being recycled by these parties.
The chorus is loud enough to deafen the ear that Nigeria needs something new and that political old brigades have woefully failed the land, and that there is the need to do something new and drastic. But such timely warning notwithstanding, APC and PDP still brought dead woods whose only credentials are that they have abundance of questionable wealth in their kitty to purchase any purchasable standing on their way. In their parlance, the language is, what Naira cannot do, dollar will and what dollar cannot do, more dollar will do it.
That explains the dollar rain at the National Conventions of the two parties in Abuja last week for PDP and this week for APC that produced the two flag bearers.
The Labour Party camp of Peter Obi has been in jubilation since the emergence of the two men. And by their choice, the two leading parties have shot themselves on the foot and made the journey easy and smooth.
Nigerian youths who conspicuously are the pillars of Obi and his party are feeling vindicated and also insulted at the same time. Vindicated that they were right in distancing themselves from these characters and insulted that the party did not factor them into their equation about this country hence the choice of anti-youth characters as candidates.
The talk of Obi not having structures which by their own definition is money, has also further exposed them and their merchandise politics which erroneously holds that money is everything. To me it sounds laughable that Obi’s teaming supporters across all the divide, religion, tribe and class cannot be classified as Political Structure because they have no money. This is notwithstanding the fact that democracy is all about human beings and their interests, hence the jargon that power belonging to the people.
Obi’s message that the youths should be ready to take back their country from the hawks is resonating, catching up and spreading like wild fire and this feeling is being fueled by the fact that the two leading parties have clearly displayed their insensitivity by the choice of these old men as flag bearers.
Obi and his crowd which is turning into movement already feels very strongly that there is nothing in the two candidates to market to Nigerian people.
In fact, they feel very strongly also that It would be difficult to find a new message APC and PDP will take to the political market with the kind of flag bearers they parade. As it is now, Nigerians appear to be echoing Mehmet Murat ildan’s voice in frustration that ‘Instead of politicians, let the monkeys govern the countries; at least they will steal only the bananas!”
Global Upront Newspapers (GUN) Political Analysis