The presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 general election in Nigeria, H.E. Peter Obi (PO) has proven to Nigerians that he is not merely a presidential candidate but an unfolding political phenomenon like never seen before in Nigeria.
Notwithstanding his facing the most voracious opposition from the old brigade politicians, PO has maintained the lead in the race in all the pre-election polls, pubic opinion poll, media popularity, international publicity, national appeal across ethnic and religious lines, and physical presence across the length and breath of Nigeria.
PO’s political persona is remniscient of the character painted by Theodore Roosevelt in his speech at Sorbonne, Paris, on April 23, 1910, titled: ‘Building Citizenship in a Republic’.
The late American leader said: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
One thing is clear, the Nigerian political terrain will never remain the same with and post Obi-Datti Presidency. Having repeatedly promised that his administration will be built around the youths, the Harvard alumnus and former chairman of Fidelity bank promises to be a pathfinder to a New Republic. It will be an arduous task for him but one that will be a worthy cause, in the words of Roosevelt. Peter Obi’s presidency will engender a new breed of Nigerian leaders; young, vibrant, competent and patriotic, and new institutions founded on the rule of law, to replace the old brigade politicians and their inept system that has brought Nigeria to the sorry state she is today.
Suffice to state that Nigerians, particularly the youths have never had this fighting chance before neither have Nigerians come this close to taking back their country. And so, should the old brigade succeed in thwarting the Obi-Datti Presidency, like a vicious virus, they will mutate and spread themselves across the political strata in Nigeria to make that they destroy any budding politician that is semblance of Peter Obi lest the nightmare they are having today due to Peter Obi come upon them again.
Do Nigerians want a presidency run by surrogates?
“I will be incharge”. Nigerians should hold me accountable”. “I will lead from the front”. These are the categorical declaration by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 election, HE Peter Obi, by which he promised Nigerians that he will be accountable to them, and his government will be alive to its responsibilities.
The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu has repeatedly refused Nigerians the opportunity to interrogate his plans. He speaks only to select audience that applaud even his gaffee. He turned down several media invitations to speak directly to Nigerians, on flimsy excuses that he was being set up by the media, the media want to make money off him, and that he is too busy with other things to honour the invitations. At the Chatham House, in the UK recently, the APC presidential candidate, after reading his speech, asked his surrogates to take turn to answer the questions posed to him? Do Nigerians really want a presidency to be run by surrogates?
#LetUsTakeBackOurCountry
Celestine writes for PO Express Media
