By Ireke Kalu Onuma
Most times we get so much rave about an issue, that it becomes difficult to get what exactly is the issue. The matter of Atiku picking Obi as his running mate, and the irk it has garnered in the South East is a case in hand.
For whatever it is worth, my take is that Obi represents to me and a large section of the Igbo and Nigerian population, the best possible choice within PDP, in the South-East, that fits the cap and ticks most of the vital boxes. The uncouth reactions from certain political quarters in the South-East is a blip and not a serious reflection of the overall mood there or amongst the wider Igbo polity.
The choice was not meant to be a consensus through hundred percent agreed consultation; but a search and settled selection for the most far reaching candidate with the right kind of combination for attracting votes not just from the South-East but across the political spectrum. The Governors and PDP politicians of the South East should understand now, that they bring nothing others can’t bring to the PDP banquet table. I was at the PDP convention in PH as an observer and a consultant, the petty approach of the South East delegates and their leaders were cheap and unhelpful to their goals, if they had any. I will be posting my general comments on these in a later post. The truth is that they backed the wrong horses, made bad deals and when their candidates made peace and deals with the Atiku team, they were not even ready to cue in and act decently.
The grouse against the choice of Peter Obi is ill-informed. The manner in which they have chosen to break it to the world is equally unpleasant. Collectively, they did not, over the past three years do anything more than their weak often vision less repose in the dark. They did not, like their counterparts in Ekiti and Rivers States, stand up and be counted when Igboland and its sons and daughters were being harassed killed or brutalized. Yet all these while, serious politicking was going on, with the soft spoken Obi reaching out everywhere, making contacts and building bridges for such days as this. Without prejudice, in the past few years, Obi had been the real politician, and I think accepting to be the running mate of Atiku is an infra dig.
He towers by a 100 years far above those complaining about his being chosen. He brings so much to the table, this is the reason why I think he is going to be the major reason why Atiku’s emergence would be considered with some certainty as a realistic way to redefining Nigeria. The capacity he brings can’t be questioned. I for one reason that we, Ndigbo have a funny way of getting the right things wrong. This anti-Obi sentiment is a case in hand. Must it always be the same for us? Must we always assume this dark art of self destruction? Before now, I wasn’t sure if Atiku would cut it, irrespective of the media hype, but his choice of Obi, was it for me. Checked with the choices out there, Peter Obi represents a silver lining.
What’s the challenge before us now? If we think about the polity as essential, this is the time to say to Peter, all those things we would be complaining about a year from now. Think Tanks, WhatsApp and Facebook Groups and movements should spend their time now articulating Nigeria beyond the elections, and make the results of such exercise available to Obi for consideration. The government that Obi would be a part of would be scrutinized everyday and rather that fight him, which would yield nothing, we ought to be aggregating our ideas and thoughts on how to enable him and them, thereby help him succeed.
Watching the clip of the supposed press conference of the South East Governors and some PDP political stalwarts, it was evident that the first eleven, or the wider aggregation of Ndigbo or their views on this couldn’t have been represented by them. That they are present political leaders, does not translate into their being our Lords or bequeath upon them the unilateral authority to choose for us. Give or take, that was a losing game. A confirmation of the fact that they could not have been looking at the bigger picture is the fact that they never gave any reason that has to do about Obi’s incompetence or otherwise; but they basically made dumb and lame comments about not being carried along. Considering the fact that Ndigbo have for long periods of time lived on the margins of the Nigerian political market, we must not be hedonistic with the opposition of Obi’s nomination, but rise to cash in on this opportunity.
The baggage Obi carries is a balloon weight compared with the load of stone these men carry. We should not break much sweat, over how this will affect our plans. We should articulate clearly and unambiguously, gleaning from several Igbo conversations what we want from the center. Restructuring, Devolution of power, State Police, Relationship between the center and the Federating units, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar Ports and the Citizenship questions should be considered and agreed with Obi. The foul shouts would soon subside, and the real work of getting them elected would begin. After Ekwueme, this is the closest we are coming to real executive power, the wide dimensions of the available possibilities are unfathomable.
Obi is the best of all possible available candidates from the South East!
Ka anyị na echeki kwa!
Ireke A Kalu Onuma, Administrative Secretary, Ndigbo Lagos, wrote in from Lagos