Nigeria: Peter Obi and his ferocious followers

This is one of my most cherished pictures, here I was in a handshake with former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, “The Abraham Lincoln. He was the head of state when Nigeria fought her civil war.

The man in the red cap is Ebitu Ukiwe, he is from a royal family from Abia state. He was a naval officer who defected to the de factor Biafran Navy. He was restored to Nigerian Navy after the war where he rose to Chief of General staff in Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s military junta.

General Yakubu Gowon was sincere in his approach to uniting the nation, nowhere did he call the secessionist “rebels” but “our brothers and sisters on the other side”.

Nigeria’s problems are encapsulated in dates, removing the events of these dates, her story would have been far better than how it is now. Events of these dates will continue to hunt Nigeria for many years; 15th January 1966 first military coup, 29th July 1966 – counter coup led by soldiers of northern origin to avenge the deaths of 15th January. July 1967 to January 15, 1790 – the civil war.

The war came and went, General Gowon was at the forefront to unite the nation with his popular quote, “No Victor, No Vanquish”. He began a rebuilding programme he called 3Rs which are Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation. He was going on with this programme and the nation was moving towards a united nation when calamity struck.

On the 29th July 1975 five years after the war, the 11th anniversary of the coup that killed a head of state in Ibadan, General Yakubu Gowon was bloodlessly removed from power while he was attending the Organisation of African Unity summit in Kampala, Uganda.

This is how Nigeria lost a golden opportunity to heal the country. Nigeria is still being hunted by the ghost of the civil war. All the leaders after Gowon, in my observation, did little or nothing to build on his 3Rs, rather tried to sweep anything about the war under the carpet. The argument is that Russia supported the war and has a rich network in that region, allowing them to flourish is like empowering communism there and “it is was a matter of time, communism will take over Nigeria”. This was at the peak of the cold war so you can relate to the scenario playing out then.

The southeast today has been a victim of imperial and colonial politics. The zone has the least number of states of five compared to other zones. The hurt of the war is finding expressions in many of our socio-political lives as a nation. While the north is less tolerant towards the east, because of the seeds the war had sown in them, the east is always temperamentally sentimental in approaching national issues than systematically logical. This has always put them on the receiving end of the political algorithm of Nigeria. The elites perfectly know how to use this… Put religion in front of a northern, or sentiment in front of a southeasterner, or tribalism in front of a southwestern they will run with them to any length and those that wired Nigeria, perfectly know how to pull these strings, because they wired you along these lines.

The current government has its flaws and I am not happy about it. When a government can not protect lives and properties, that government has lost its essence of existence. The perceived failures of the government have created resentment against the government and the youths are willing to take back their country, many of them have seen Governor Peter Obi as the best option among the presidential candidates for Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections. These youth are determined and I commend them, they should never give up as their resolve to stand for what they believe in will alter many things, including how our elites sell us out to international interests. They are redefining governance in Nigeria and for the first time after the civil war, a Nigerian from the east will see his political dreams and aspirations gaining acceptance across the board and this has inspired me to write in the coming days; PETER OBI AND THE PROPHETIC SIDE OF THE MOVEMENT.

It is our right to campaign for who we want, either Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu, or Atiku Abubakar among others, but one thing the obimites are yet to understand is the dynamics that play out offline in Nigerian politics. A large percentage of Obimites shouted Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, Atikulated in 2019 and now Obedient in 2023. I see a common trait in them all through these elections, instead of engaging in constructive argument to win people into their line of thought, they result to insults and blackmail.

Like I told you earlier, religion is what moves the man in the north, sentiments the man in the east and tribalism the man in the west. As the Obi movement keeps gaining grounds, I pray Obimites will be more engaging than insultive to win the man in the north, they will be more inspiring than blackmailing to win the man in the west, and they will be more convincing than confrontational to win the man in south-south, they will be more calm than abusive to win the man from the middle-east.

As Obi and his followers aspire to take over the government, I will advise them to go to where the north normally goes to negotiate power because relying on social media frenzy alone may not get their desired result. As for the rest of Nigerians, the current situation in the country can make any normal human run mad, the ferocious nature of Obimites is an offshoot of government failure and grievances of a people whose country never heal their hearts after a war and the nation has continued to fertilize these hurts with injustice and inequality.

Nigeria needs true healing until we go back to 1975 and consciously start the healing process of General Yakubu Gowon, by giving everything federating unit a sense of belonging, Nigeria’s dream of having a united and just nation will always be a mirage.

May God heal Nigeria!

Enenche Enenche
Abuja, Nigeria 🇳🇬