“Without a unified political climate of opinion, there is little or no political profit in doing the right thing.” – William A. Dembski
When is a vote wasted? Is it when you vote for a loser in an election?
In our clime, the default thinking is that a vote is wasted when the preferred candidate loses in the polls. But democracy did not envisage that any ballot cast is wasted unless it is voided. This is because, without the different varying interests shown at balloting, the contest means nothing. Therefore, it’s wrong to say that a vote that is not voided is a waste, no matter the outcome.
After the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, joined the top-job race at such an unexpectedly high stake level, Ndigbos of South East, Nigeria, have become a major critical player in the 2023 general elections. Never before have Ndigbo been so prominent in national politics as they are now since the late Nnamdi Azikiwe (Second Republic). Obi certainly has changed the dynamics in so many ways by accelerating his presidential drive nationally but more in galvanising Ndigbo for political involvement.
Since this democratic dispensation in 1999, Ndigbo have been docile and barely participated in political activities as major players but since June 2022 when Obi emerged like a hurricane as the Labour Party flag bearer, the momentum has changed. Ndigbo are not only at the forefront but they appear to have emerged at the centre of the ongoing political conversation. Whether you are supporting Obi or working against him in this election, what is indisputable is that he is determining the discourse.
When he came in as a social media tiger, nobody reckoned with him. His opponents were arrogantly contemptuous of him as a non-issue. How can one without structure think of winning the presidency without a single governor or senator, they would say derisively. But as days, weeks, and months progressed, the story began to change. The structureless man is now a formidable force and now changing the narratives as he remains the topic of every political talk, in churches, mosques, beer parlours, motor parks, and at waiting lounges at the various airports, offices, and playgrounds.
The fear of him and his crusading Obidient political family became the beginning of political wisdom. Because like the proverbial rejected stone, Obi is becoming the cornerstone that controls the political temperature of this campaign. This notwithstanding, there are still some minority voices trying to stand against a moving train in the foolish thinking that they are defending their party interest. Party my foot! For 23 years, people invested their emotions, resources, energy, and votes in one political party called the PDP, what did it get in return?
Some political characters in Anambra State led by Governor Chukwuma Soludo, ostensibly driven by envy, jealousy, and pull-him-down syndrome prevalent in the local politics have been trying to make Ndigbo believe that voting for Peter Obi and the Labour Party is a waste of their votes. They claim erroneously that the Obi project is indeed a threat to the larger Igbo interests as interpreted by them.
But in reality and from whichever perspective you like, is voting for Peter Obi a waste? Certainly not, a vote for him is for justice and equity. It’s a vote for national cohesion and stability. It’s a vote for merit, character, competence, and capacity since it is very obvious that Obi is probably the only person among the three frontrunners in the race that has all these attributes.
All the people who are pushing their selfish personal interests as Igbo interests should be ready for the consequences.
History is a witness that those who turn their back on Igbos at critical times always live in regrets. Taking a different political position is allowed and encouraged in the spirit and wisdom of not putting all our eggs in one basket but they are not the same as outright undermining of the larger Igbo interest.
For instance, the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, and some other Igbo leaders have been in opposition to Igbo politics since he was thrown out of the Government House, Awka, by the Supreme Court but he has since then pushed his interest carefully, and methodically without injuring the sensibilities of his own people majority of whom are in another party. That is the wisdom missing in Governor Soludo, Obiora Okonkwo, and Dan Ulasi who are allowing their political prejudice against Obi to cloud their reasoning.
Obi certainly is not a saint politically speaking and he is not pretending to be one, you cannot be a success in many ramifications including politics in our society and deceive yourself that all will be happy with you. It’s utopian to think that way and Obi is free of that since he recognizes that if the person who sacrificed Jesus to the Jews came from close 12 chosen disciples, let alone lesser mortals who have disagreeable people among huge ethnic and egalitarian groups like Ndigbo.
We sympathise with any Igbo person who for whatever reason is unenjoyable or badly tempered about Obi’s current presidential ambition because whether by providence, strategy or otherwise, Obi has warmed up himself to Nigerians and stands out as the best product in the political market at the moment. Not to identify with him, especially as an Igbo, is to deliberately choose to lower one’s class or standard.
If Obi is the issue in the country now it’s not by happenstance or because he is an Igbo, it’s more because of the content in him which he successfully displays. That an Igbo who has been deprived of top political positions in the land is emerging as a frontrunner in the race for the number one position should gladden any good heart of Igbo extraction.
Even though we are well aware that campaign time is not the best for good political reasons, especially in a reactionary society like ours, discernment demands that we respect the feelings of the people. It’s also to our knowledge though that even with the right political climate, wrong people will not refrain from doing the wrong things but there is a limit to how we can push our hatred to the detriment of our people including our future children.
Any Igbo person who is not joyous about the recent political happenings around the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, could lead to the first elected Igbo president in Nigeria should have his Igboness reexamined. It’s the inalienable right of everyone, Ndigbo inclusive, to go to hell in their way if they so chose but certainly not within their right to drag others along, especially those who have been working very hard to make heaven.
Telling the Igbo voter who wants to vote for Peter Obi not to waste their votes is tantamount to telling somebody diligently worshipping Jesus to get salvation that he is wasting his time.
The truth of Igbo marginalisation in Nigeria’s political space is evident and glaring but if any Igbo out of party affiliation or other entrenched selfish interests decides to continue in bondage even when offered the opportunity of liberty, let us pray for such people.
As I conclude this conversation one may be tempted to invoke this American businessman, Mark McKinnon’s assertion that defines how we can change our political climate for good. “There’s only one way we’re going to change our political climate and ensure we establish some respect in our discourse. And that is to show that there is a real price to pay for being a disrespectful partisan idiot.” Ndigbo cannot in this critical journey to political freedom and almost close to Jerusalem afford to have obstacles driven by personal jealousy and envy to the detriment of the entire Ndigbo.
Ndigbo should not allow numerous missed opportunities of the past to impede the opportunities that are right before them now in a very possible Peter Obi presidency. Let us, therefore, embrace this American author, Horace Jackson Brown’s warning: “Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.” God help us.