By:
Agoso H. Bamaiyi.
When I say I am fully committed to a Peter Obi victory at the Presidential Polls, I will be stating the obvious. I have never, even for once, attempted to hide it. My commitment is such that I am directly and fully working, on the ground, for that victory.
Having said that, let me add, with equal force, that I am also committed to the electoral victory of all the candidates of the Labour Party in my home state, Adamawa State – governorship, senate, reps and state house of assembly. My commitment here too is such that I am directly and fully working, on the ground, for their victory.
This is based on my belief that, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo said, Mr. Peter Obi is the best candidate among those presently running for the office. This is because Mr. Peter Obi understands the problems with Nigeria, proffers the best solutions, has the requisite experience and proven track record to handle them, has age and physical strength on his side, has the fortitude and character trait to resist the allures of power, has the humility to identify with the masses, has a clean record in both private and public life, has the overwhelming support of the downtrodden masses and the youth of Nigeria, has the ears and understanding of the international community and international organizations.
Given the way things are in Nigeria, and the radical steps – away from “business as usual” – necessary to turn the country around and move it back to productivity and prosperity, Mr. Peter Obi is our best bet. And it is a calculated bet with superior odds. The principles that govern his personal life and administrative style are universal best-practice principles that will secure and ensure real sustainable growth and prosperity for the whole country. Among the current contenders, he is, by far, the most likely to give us a country that works for all and that we all can be proud of. That is why I support him.
But – and this is why I have written this piece – Mr. Peter Obi alone cannot turn Nigeria around. He is not a magician or miracle worker. As a matter of fact, if magicians and miracle workers and conjurers could save Nigeria, it would not be in the mess it is in now. You see, Nigerians are the most prayerful and miracle-seeking set of humans on Earth, and yet our country is in serious mess, needing saving. the problem is not a lack of prayers. The thing is that nations respond to proactive planning, good administration, fiscal discipline and probity. As long as we do not apply these universal principles, all our prayers will amount to very little. The ObiDatti Presidential Ticket brings all that to the table.
Mr. Peter Obi, however, is going to need all the support he can get, from likeminded and patriotic Nigerians, to succeed at the revolutionary changes and operations needed to give life back to Nigeria. He will also need support, a lot more than is estimated by pundits and supporters in the ObiDatti camp, from constitutional political structures, mainly the legislature.
My worry is that events in the Labour Party, and in Mr. Peter Obi’s campaign team, does not indicate that that important point is understood or appreciated well enough, because I do not see any real concerted effort, as can clearly be seen in PDP and APC, to work for the victory of all the party candidates from top to bottom. Just visit any Labour Party forum, either on social media or in real life, or interact with any ObiDatti support group, and you will quickly understand what I am talking about. It is all about “Obi for President”, period.
The campaign effort is a concerted and concentrated effort to secure victory ONLY for Mr. Peter Obi. No one else, or any other office on the platform of the Labour Party, seems to count much. Party officials and support group leaders openly say they are pushing for ONLY Mr. Peter Obi. So, while other parties understand the need for their presidential candidate to be elected along with all their governorship, senatorial and reps’ candidates so that the President will have control of both the Red and Green Chambers, and a wide support base in the Council of State, the Labour Party is almost exclusively ONLY pushing for Mr. Peter Obi. Hence, as I see it, we are rushing, full steam, towards a politically dangerous situation, full of landmines and booby traps, where we have a President that has no control of the Senate and House of Representatives, and limited support in the Council of State.
Let me explain. Mr. Peter Obi, when he wins elections and is sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic, cannot govern Nigeria alone. You see, we operate a Presidential System with three arms – Executive, Legislative and Judiciary – where decisions are made by consensus and not by decree. Mr. Peter Obi, therefore, is going to need all the governors, senators and reps that he can get, who are in the same party with him and are willing to support him or, at the very least, can be made to support him by enforcing party affiliation and supremacy, to successfully lead. Otherwise, he will be a sitting duck that will be easily taken out by reactionary forces in the opposition and in the polity. And, let nobody be deluded, Mr. Peter Obi will be opposed and fought, on all fronts and by all means possible, by those who have hitherto benefited from the faulty system we have operated so far; the very system we all agree should be changed and which Mr. Peter Obi has sworn to change for good. For this reason, his is likely to be a very turbulent presidency – as it was when he was governor of Anambra State – and will be made more difficult for lack of statutory political support. He will need like minds in both the Red and Green Chambers.
I am not talking in a vacuum. There is a cause, as there is no smoke without fire. When Alhaji Abdullahi Tsoho, the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in Jigawa State, took the entire candidates and party structure of the Labour Party in Jigawa and decamped to APC, his grouse was that the labour Party has been turned into a personality cult, with no more place for ideological, regional and religious diversity. He observed that the Labour Party had the chance to be a truly nationalistic, ideological and all-inclusive party, but had frittered that chance on the personality altar of Mr. Peter Obi.
Though I would not personally go as far as Alhaji Tsoho went, I do understand his argument. I am a principles-based person. I do not promote personalities. I promote principles. My reason is simple: personalities fail and fade with time, but principles endure. Growth and prosperity attained by adherence to rule of law, dew process and probity are much more sustainable and inclusive than growth and prosperity driven by a personality movement or cult. Our salvation as a nation lies in upholding universal principles and best practices, not in personality cults or movements. There was a time, not too long ago, when we were told that Nigeria could not do without Mohammadu Buhari. Today, even the most ardent of supporters are singing a different tune. So, it is not about Mr. Peter Obi, or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is about who is more likely to adhere to universal principles and best practices. Mr. Peter Obi, by his antecedents and attainments, is, by far, the more likely to adhere to universal principles and best practices. It is, therefore, an error to, deliberately or inadvertently, turn his noble ambition to serve his country into a personality cult or movement.
I am aware of the touted reaction to Alhaji Abdullahi Tsoho’s defection: that he was bought over. Be that as it may, the fact that a rival can woo your bride away is an indication of a poor relationship in the first place. As I write this piece, the same grumblings, as expressed by Alhaji Abdullahi Tsoho, are going on in several other states, especially in the North and South. In the South East where Mr. Obi hails from, the permutations are that he will win the popular vote, but the Labour Party is likely not going to produce even a single governor from any of the 5 states that make up the region. The truth is that many candidates on the Labour Party platform feel neglected and ignored, even pushed aside, by the party in the rush to deliver the presidency to Mr. Peter Obi. So, we are likely to witness more mass defections in the next three weeks, if comprehensive remedial measures (not punitive measures!) are not quickly taken.
In Adamawa State, where I am deeply involved with the Labour Party as a Strategist and Spokesperson for its gubernatorial candidate, the cerebral and gifted Alhaji Umar Mustapha Madawaki (Otumba Ekiti), I am sad to say, things are not any different. Apart from deep and debilitating internal divisions and poor leadership, which in themselves are recipes for failure, some party officials and Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, members are going round the state telling Labour Party members and supporters to vote only Mr. Peter Obi during the General Elections and then vote PDP, and not candidates of the Labour Party, for all other offices. The body language of the national leadership of the Labour Party, I must observe, clearly endorses that faulty position. On our part in the gubernatorial campaign team, we have worked tirelessly to make sure that this is reversed so that we can run an all-inclusive campaign that works for all LP candidates in the state. We are committed to victory for all candidates, from the presidential candidate down to the members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, on the platform of the Labour Party. We believe that each candidate has as much right as Mr. Peter Obi to be supported by the structures of the party and given the chance to fight for office, fair and square.
The open campaign by some party leaders and stakeholders to secure votes only for Mr. Peter Obi and no other, to my mind, is political naivety of the highest order, to say the least, and extremely dangerous. The truth is that a party working against its own candidates is clearly digging its own grave. Where is that ever done? As I have pointed out earlier, Mr. Peter Obi, when he wins elections, is going to need all the governors and senators and house of reps members that he can get from his own party to maneuver the mined political landscape safely. Ignoring or outrightly working against Labour Party candidates, therefore, is directing working against Mr. Peter Obi himself.
Are we not shooting ourselves in the foot? Who has bewitched us? Why are we failing to see the strategic value in the Labour Party working for victory for all its candidates, all across the country? Why are people from our own ranks so hellbent on sabotaging our own candidates? Or are there hidden opposition fingers remotely and clandestinely pulling the strings of discord in the Labour Party? As Prince Abiathar Zadok says, “when your dog starts barking at you, our fathers say someone is feeding it.” Is that what is happening here?
For the sake of a greater Nigeria, all these political shenanigans, which smacks of political naivety, have to stop. We must mend fences now or else we risk losing more brides to amorous suitors with hands dripping with unclean honey.
I have a lot to say but I think I have said enough on this matter for now.
I remain Agoso H. Bamaiyi, your friend for a greater Nigeria and the best things of life.
(Agoso H. Bamaiyi is a Counselor, Life coach, Motivator, Writer, Publisher, Social Entrepreneur, Political Analyst, Current Affairs Commentator and Development Strategist.
He writes from Yola, Adamawa State.)
