Peter Obi’s wife: Let’s talk about her handbag – Obi’s wife has never served in any capacity as a public official. The office of the First Lady never existed while her husband was the governor. So, it borders on neurosis for people to masturbate their diseased emotions over the cost of her bag while there are more important issues that threaten our collective existence.
By Promise Adiele
It is difficult to argue that many Nigerians are not afflicted with schizophrenia – that acute psychological disorder characterized by scrambled thought processes, periodic dislocation of emotions and fluctuating byways of the mind. This could be traced to severe, subliminal trauma from years of misrule. Or how can we explain that some full-grown Nigerians will dedicate their time, despite the marauding hunger in the land, to talk about the handbag of a private citizen who holds no political office? It offends the sensibilities that Nigerians have fallen so low in grappling with the realities that confront them. In the name of heaven, how does the handbag of someone’s wife affect the living conditions of millions of Nigerians stewing in the crucible of hardship and penury? How does the cost of that handbag address the rising cost of fuel in the country? How does the cost of that handbag respond to the broken promise of constant power supply by Mr. President?
Mr. Peter Obi is the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) and, by any international classification, a multi-billionaire in any currency. His wealth is traceable to long years of entrepreneurial doggedness, and he has explained this many times to the public. When he was leaving office as the governor of Anambra State, he invited the EFCC and ICPC to investigate his eight years in office. They found nothing on him. No governor in Nigeria can do that. Since he left office, he has not collected one kobo as pension. Recently, he responded to queries about his academic records by openly instructing the University of Nigeria Nsukka, to release every record about his education. He has also urged the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and other crime agencies to release any record about him either when he was a governor or after his exit from office.
He has called on the FBI and CIA to release any records they may have about him. He has urged other presidential aspirants to do the same, arguing that character is essential for public office. This is what should concern Nigerians. I expect every media space to be agog with debates and discussions about Obi’s declarations and to urge his rivals to take up the challenge. But no, many Nigerians are fixated on illusions while endorsing criminality as long as it satisfies ethnic, religious, or material considerations. Then, they chase shadows by discussing the cost of the handbag of a private citizen. Obi’s wife has never served in any capacity as a public official. The office of the First Lady never existed while her husband was the governor. So, it borders on neurosis for people to masturbate their diseased emotions over the cost of her bag while there are more important issues that threaten our collective existence.
Let us examine how that handbag has distracted some Nigerians from their daily challenges. The country’s media spaces are currently engulfed in a familiar, exhausting frenzy. Social media handles and timelines are flooded, radio and TV talk shows are dominated by heated debates over a single piece of leather handbag carried by Margaret Obi, Peter Obi’s wife. Photos have been analyzed, prices estimated with frantic accuracy, and moral superiority weaponized from every political aisle. Yet, as media spaces expend hyper-fixated energy on the fashion choices of a private citizen, a chilling silence hangs over the structural violence being inflicted on Nigerians. This collective obsession is not just a misplaced priority. It is an immediate national tragedy. It reveals a deeply broken public discourse – one engineered, deliberately or otherwise, to keep the populace looking at trivialities while the house burns to the ground. Nigeria’s indicators of failure are undeniable. Key sectors such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure suffer from chronic underfunding and corruption, while the nation’s wealth remains concentrated within a predatory political class. These things do not bother us. What grates at our souls is the cost of someone’s handbag.
While the nation hyperventilates over a bag, the real, crushing weight of Nigerian existence remains unaddressed. Where is the sustained outrage for the high cost of fuel, which has crippled small businesses, grounded transport systems, and driven up the price of every commodity? The average Nigerian is trapped in a chokehold of economic misery, spending their entire disposable income just trying to commute to work and power their homes. Instead of demanding accountability for the grand failures of governance, the public has chosen to play the role of fashion police to a private individual who holds no public office and controls no state budget. Let us be clear about the disparity at play here. Margaret Obi is a private citizen. Her husband does not currently hold a public office, nor does he control state allocation. How she spends her personal wealth or what accessories she chooses to wear does not affect the national treasury.
Contrast this with the brazen, unconscionable looting by the political class. We are talking about serving public officials who are routinely accused of siphoning billions of naira meant for healthcare, education, and infrastructure into foreign bank accounts. We are talking about lawmakers who approve multi-million-naira luxury vehicles for themselves while telling the populace to endure the pains of economic reform. The money that bought Margaret Obi’s handbag did not come from any government’s account. She is not a contractor to any government. The money funding the lavish lifestyles of our current public officials does. Yet, the fury directed at the former is louder than the outrage directed at the latter.
As I argued earlier, this selective outrage is a symptom of a deeper psychological trauma. We expect nothing from our leaders, so we demand nothing. But because the anger inside us needs an outlet, we turn on soft targets. What have the Senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the House of Assembly, and other public officeholders done to improve their communities? How many of these people looted our commonwealth, joined the government in power and escaped justice by the EFCC? The EFCC chairman swore that he will resign if Yaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, is not arrested and prosecuted. Yaya Bello allegedly embezzled over N80 billion of state funds. Today, he is on the ballot towards the 2027 election as a Senatorial candidate representing the APC. No anger, no outrage. We are more interested in the cost of a private citizen’s handbag. Who do us abeg?
Last year, Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) alleged that the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, stole public funds and bought houses in the US worth over $6,000,000 (six million US dollars) in Florida, United States. Sowore, through his lawyer Deji Adeyanju, petitioned the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier, demanding that the minister be prosecuted for money laundering and made to forfeit the multimillion-dollar properties he acquired unlawfully. The petition outlined how Wike dubiously transferred ownership of the properties to his wife and children through quitclaim deeds, which perfectly concealed his identity as the original owner of the properties. There are reports online that Wike owns what can be termed the best hotel in Nigeria, called J’s Signature, an imposing, grand, castle-like structure located at Old GRA Phase 1, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. According to the report, the least expensive room costs N300,000 per night. Yet Nyesom Wike is a public servant who has not done anything in his life apart from politics. But let’s ignore these issues and talk about the handbag of someone’s wife.
We must wake up from this collective hypnosis. The preoccupation with petty optics while the nation rots away is exactly how bad leaders thrive. If we continue to argue about ethnicity, religion, and the price of a handbag, we will never form a united front to demand why our hospitals lack basic equipment, why our universities are perpetually on the brink of collapse, and why the minimum wage cannot buy a bag of rice. Every minute spent dissecting Margaret Obi’s wardrobe is a minute stolen from demanding accountability for the collapsing economy. It is a minute stolen from questioning the skyrocketing national debt. It is a minute stolen from mourning and demanding justice for those lost to insecurity across the country.
It is time to redirect the rage as the 2027 elections draw near. We must put down the magnifying glasses being used to inspect the seams of a private citizen’s bag, and pick up the mirrors to look at what we have allowed our nation to become. We must demand to know where the country’s oil revenues are going. We must demand to know why the promises of relief have turned into chains of hardship. We must ask the hard questions about our country and hold the political class accountable. We must look at our roads and hold those responsible for their repairs accountable. We must refuse to be distracted. The stakes are far too high, and the misery is far too real. The cost of someone’s handbag is far from the issues ailing the country.
- Dr. Promise Adiele is a member of the League of Nigerian Columnists (LNC)
