By Felix O. Felix
The man Peter Obi, has been with us, but we, Nigerians, knew him not, neither did his tribes men knew him and thus, esteemed him not. An introvert, peaceable and incorruptible gentleman; he is not despotic, not boastful, flamboyant or extravagant; he is not a noise maker, is humble and easy-going, does not cheat, not embezzler, and not careless with his words and resources. He has a very tiny feminine voice that makes many men, especially, politicians to under rate his greatness. At a distance, Peter, looks soft and conquerable, but more heroic and victorious than most men in battles. He is always a champion! He is successful in so many areas of his endeavour before daring the Nigeria politics, many described as ‘dirty’. Unlike business, one can do alone or with few people, Peter, needed a political party as a platform to play his politics.
Every political journey has a starting point, a political party. Peter knew his fact. He went to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the umbrella Party, and registered as a member, about sixteen years ago. Shortly after wards, he saw his tomorrow not in PDP, that was self-acclaimed, the biggest party in Africa, but in an embryonic All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that was just formed then. Every effort by his friends and associates to dissuade him proved abortive. This was because he was the only person that had the eyes that could see the political fortunes the baby party (APGA) had for him. Many persons wondered why such choice by him and quarried why he chose such tiny and infant party. Others, imagined how Obi could win election in a party without structures? Adamantly, he heeded them not. None of the above knew or saw what Obi knew and saw.
At the time APGA was formed and born was the time Peter made his first appearance in the Nigerian Political landscape. It was also at a time when the PDP held sway the political control of the whole South-East. Yet, Peter was not perturbed. A man of few words, he strongly believed that the young party was his preferred platform. He was convinced that, by the grace of God, he would win. How he would do that, was between him and his God. Note: Obi was not known by many then, neither had Peter given any person ‘shishi’. How can he win election without money or aggressive campaign? many wondered. What kind of man is he? His few followers quarried. He and his party, APGA, were not counted as serious contestant and party. PDP, the greatest, was not expecting that any good could come out of APGA, neither was Peter Obi afraid of either of the parties, not even the PDP.
As the campaign nuances of all the registered political parties grew and expanded in Anambra Stated, the billionaire state of Nigeria, Peter Obi, remained noiseless. At this point, members of every political party had released and offered its financial inducements, promises and artifices to the electorates as to convince them to cast their votes for their governorship and other contestants of their party. PDP, with the largest number of followers and money bags, had already told themselves that the election were already a done-deed. Yet, upon all the campaign noises around the state, Peter Obi was undaunted. He had no God-father, but his God. His followers seemed disappointed, but did not know that Peter had a campaign strategy no politician in Nigeria has ever had, not even the great Zik of Africa. Peter’s strategy was short and simple; not energy and money consuming, anyway, a straight message.
And until their first campaign outing, none of his party members and the electorates knew him or his campaign messages much. At the campaign arena and when it was his turn to talk to the electorates, he stood and spoke to the voters, and said, “I know and have seen and believe the much you have suffered under the bad leadership of those that governed the state in the past years. I know your pains and lacks and have come to provide the leadership you have long expected and desired, if only you will give me your mandate to govern the state”. Like the biblical Peter, he said “Silver and gold have I none, but I have a leadership and people’s partnership to enter into with you that is capable of bringing the changes we need in our state. The partnership is ‘I have no ‘shishi’ to give you, but your ‘shishi’ I will not touch”. Thence he ended his speech and thanked the people for coming. Peter’s messages were truly short and thoughtful and mindedly presented, such as his listeners (voters) were left to interpret or sieve the meaning of such short impressive campaign speeches, especially, “I have no ‘shishi’ to give to you, and I will not touch your ‘shishi’. “W-a-w! What a great riddle, indeed,” all of them agreed. Just before the voters departed the venue of the rally, a party chieftain told them that he has found the meaning of the riddle given to them by the governorship candidate, Peter Obi. It means that, he will not buy us over like the past governors did and will not touch the public money given to him to use to develop the state. “You are certainly correct,” all of them agreed. “Maybe, God has answered our prayers for him to send an incorruptible and God-fearing man to govern our state and free us from the political slavery of the past and present governors”, another man guessed. Another man said, “the man spoke like a holy man”. Thence, those that attended the party campaign rally because of the kind of money they usually get from other political parties governorship aspirant(s) that were disappointed in Peter for not bringing or giving money, turned to accept that having a good governor is a million times better than selling their votes or birth rights.
Candidly, Peter’s entry into politics coincided with the time Anambra State was in dire need of a rescuer – governor. The people have prayed many years for God to send to them a good governor that will wipe away their tears of years of suffering from the merciless politicians. And as Peter went round preaching the message of service to the people, thrift and frugality from one local government area to another, thousands of converts (defectors) from the mega party (PDP) and others joined the APGA. His short message alone, caused thousands of members of the PDP and other parties to reject their parties and join the APGA. The money bags could not believe their eyes, as every of their effort was consumed by such turn aways. When Peter’s pedigrees, educational and business exploits and self-discipline were verified, by many, they were astounded by his feats and accomplishments and wondered why he did not come earlier than then. Well, “God’s time is the best” they said. As the ‘Peterism’ messages of hope and good governance swept through the length and breath of Anambra State, the believers of the message “ I will not give you ‘shishi’ and I will not touch your ‘shishi” tax payers’ money given to me, on your behalf, to develop the state with, if you give me your mandate to be your governor, all changed to messengers and agents of change for the ‘Peterism political bloc. Day by day, the membership of PDP and other political parties kept depleting, while Peter’s followership exponentially surged, as the deserters and mutineers of the other political parties turned their backs on them.
The ‘shishi’ message disarmed the money bags and rendered them and their dollarized monetary inducements powerless and unacceptable by the electorates. They tried to nail the unblemished Peter, but could not. They planned strong propaganda strategy to smear and defame him. They branded him as selfish and stingy man, but the voters rebuffed them and commended Peter for his good conduct, thrifty and frugality. But they failed. And when the election was conducted, Peter won landslidely. Their last unslaught was to steal his mandate through legal means. Here, another battle began. And here, again, the decorous and gentle Peter, whose toughness and ruggedness are shrouded in his simplicity and purity, defeated his opponents both at the polls and at the court. He reclaimed his mandate and the heaven and Anambra State people rejoiced as he was inaugurated as the governor of the state.
In his inaugural speech, he re-echoed his campaign promises ‘I will not give you ‘shishi’ and I will not touch your ‘shishi’, tax payers money, given to me by you to use in developing the state and make life more meaningful for all of us. And before he came, Anambra State was the worst governed state in Nigeria. Peter Obi, the game changer within the shortest time, turned things around, in every sector of the economy of the state for good. There was no area he did not touch. The state that was at the lowest rung of the ladder amongst all the states of the federation was lifted to the uppermost rung, number one (No.1) by the “I will not give you ‘shishi’ and will not touch your ‘shishi’ type of government of Peter Obi, the first of its kind in Africa. Anambra State became a reference model in education, commerce/industry, steady increase in gross domestic products (GDP), human capital development, Information and communication technology (ICT), regular payment of salaries, gratuities pension, infrastructural development, people oriented programmes and implementation, security and other sectoral growths. The last has become the first, a governance model every state in Nigeria was copying from. This is the power of not giving and not touching ‘shishi’. For those of you that know not the meaning of ‘shishi’, it was six pence, one penny times six (1×6) of Nigeria coins that the Igbos called ‘shishi’, then, one penny x twelve (1×12) was one shilling. ‘shishi’ was half of one shilling: From here you can see how worthless ‘shishi’ is and on your own, translate what Peter had told the electorates before the election took place that convinced them to vote for him. To me, it was ‘I will give you nothing to win your votes, and will take nothing to govern you, transparently well. Simple and short! Peter’s method is energy and money saving; trustworthy, truthful, collaborative, participatory and uninfluential. This process works for real men of honour, honest, upright, pure and principled men, whose ‘yes is yes’ and ‘no is no’ that, would always fulfil their promises like Peter Obi, but to vote buyers and deceitful people, it does not.
Peter’s entry into politics is not ordinary but enigmatic, mystifying, instructive and catechistical as it brought a governance model and a template for building and ruling or running a modern, progressive and prosperous nation. He developed it, used it in Anambra State, and it yielded great results. Unfortunately, Peter’s successor destroyed all the foundations he had laid instead of building on them and sent the state back to almost where it was when Peter came. Too bad!
However, Peter is not tired, is not relenting in his desire to provide quality leadership to all Nigerians and free them from the political and economic impoverishment and stagnation by the analogue politicians and their plutocratic god-fathers. For years now, Nigerians have been praying and are in search of a good leader that will take them out of their political captivity by the past presidents, governors, ministers and others, such like Anambra State did before Peter Obi came. This time, Peter was called back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by Atiku Abubakar eight years ago as his vice presidential candidate and Nigerians rejoiced that Peter, the rock, would be their vice-president until the election was conducted and the power that be was declared victorious or winner. He remained in the PDP until politicians of different political parties re-grouped for the 2023 general elections. He saw again what he had seen in PDP, sixteen years ago, and left for yet another smaller party, the Labour Party, a no-known party. His entrance into the party was a big boost. As the party gave to him its presidential ticket, the fortunes of the party become explosive as the backsliders from other political parties that defected to the Labour Party kept increasing day by day. Peter’s departure from PDP to the Labour Party jittered the umbrella party, especially, the members of the party that knew what political misfortune Peter Obi’s exit would mean to PDP. Those of them that knew Peter and his political exploits in Anambra State, raised alarm, warning that the party should do all it could to bring him back. Every effort of the party to bring him back failed as he said that he has seen his political success not in PDP, but in the hands of the millions of Nigerian youths, and therefore, he cannot abandon them. And when peter mentioned, ‘I will not give “Shishi” to Nigerians, the alarmist knew that his “Shishi” messages will unseat both the big and small parties. Shortly, Peter’s personality, characteristics and fastest growing followership is not only frightening and scaring but an outbreak, a change-wind-and-storm in Nigeria political space. The ‘Obidient’ obsession of the youths, men and women, young and old across the length and breadth of Nigeria is not only alluring and compelling, but impressive, hope resurrecting, revival, cheering and participatory that the Labour Party is now ‘ebe ano’, the people’s place or political party. Just like that? This is the cashless power of ‘shishi’ and when the other parties could not stop the wild spread of the ‘Obidient’ movement that escalates like a wild fire daily, they resorted to demarket Peter Obi. They said “Obi is from the South-East that do not know how to play politics as if politics they play is a profession, that have made them have an edge above others. They said also, that there is insecurity and agitation in the South-East, therefore, Peter could not be voted for and as such nobody would be his running-mate. Ego, isn’t it? What about the North-West? What about the boko haram, bandits, Fulani killer herdsmen, known and un-known gun men, kidnappers/ransoms, the daily killings (pogroms), in your North-West? And yet, you want people to be your running-mate and you will not be to others. It is your right to accept or not, but it is not your right to castigate anybody or tribe. How many of these terrorists are in your zone and how many are in the South-East? IPOB, a freedom fighter organization, is the only pressure group in the South-East, but how many do you have in your zone? You said that Peter have not spoken to IPOB, one would want to know how many times you have spoken to the terrorists in your zone. Don’t be pretentious. Don’t claim that you know more than anybody. The era to say the truth is here. The Bible says “Out of the abundant of the heart, the mouth speaketh”. Your utterances as a leader, is less to be desired and explains who you are. And by the way, what has the zone gotten from their political dominance in Nigeria? They have nothing to show for it. Then, why the ego? Too, they turn to persuade Peter Obi and said: You are sound and good for the job, but wait until after eight years before you run, so that your people would have built bridges across all the rivers in the North which themselves could not build before you join the race. Others said; bluntly, Peter Obi can never be the president of Nigeria, for no sins of his, but because he is an Igbo man. What wrongs have the Igbos done they have not done greater or more? And what good things they have that the Igbos have not more and greater in all spheres of life? For Christ sake, where is the ego. The Igbos have a lot to do for themselves, do not devote their whole life to politics. Yet, they are not boastful or egocentric.
Peter Obi, is not egotic, does not castigate anybody, from any zone, but always talk on issue-based conversations bothering on the ways of bringing good governance and individual/national prosperity to all Nigerians. Why the noise about Peter’s appearance into politics. Fears? Yes, it is! Demarketing Peter Obi is helping to familiarize and universalize him. Fortunately, the three major tribes in Nigeria has its own presidential candidate. So, the East, West, South or North politics will be so difficult to play. The ethnic and religion correlation could not also be easily painted this time around. It is not going to be business as usual. So, Kwankwaso and his co-travellers is not going to be the lord over the others now. The era: I have been a local government area council chairman, house of representatives member, a senator or a two time governor or a minister were credentials or qualification for contesting for any higher political office without anything to show for it, is gone. We, Nigerians will interrogate the real you in you, the stuff you are made of, the leadership traits or qualities you posses; we will verify your background, wealth and the sources, your honesty, incorruptibility, sensitivity and leadership skills before voting for you. East, West, North or South will not give you undeserved votes. Nobody will be a king. We will de-emphasized ethnicity, religion and region in our voting, come 2023. Buying of votes will not help any contestant as more emphasis will be laid on cashless campaign and votes selling. Sell yourself and manifestoes to the electorates and allow us to choose amongst the contestants. Don’t give us ‘shishi’. We don’t want your money. Help us make INEC work easy.
Everybody says: ‘is Peter Obi I want’. The name Obi has been sloganized to ‘Obi-dient’, a catchword and a logo for the youths change agents for the young leaders in Nigeria, come 2023. And whether anybody likes it or not, the Obi-dient is a hurricane blowing across Nigeria because of one man. What kind of man is Peter Obi that without giving ‘shishi’ he commands great crowd all over Nigeria the money bags could not get? many asked. What kind of magic wands he uses? the money bags wondered. This is because, they see Peter in different way the ordinary Nigerians see him. Peter is an ice berg little of it meets the eyes. A man of many sides and a guru in all. A pure and reliable man that has been tested in fire like gold and found unadulterated. Just as the opposition parties are trying to demarket Obi the more popular he becomes. Take it or not “Obi-dient’ is transcendental and cannot be thwarted or stopped. Nigerians, the dice is cast. Shine your eyes! The hour is here. Choose your leaders correctly, rightly and wisely.
*Felix sent in this piece from Abuja
