By Victor Anazonwu
At the occasion of his 64th birthday yesterday, Peter Obi, Labor Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, did what he does best. He stuck a knife in our collective conscience and pulled the weapon back. Blood flowed – literally.
Obi said those who wish to celebrate or give him gifts should “redirect” their gifts to the needy around them as he has no need for elaborate personal celebrations. He said he derives so much joy and satisfaction from such redirection – a habit he has indulged for some time now. In a country where taking what belongs to others is considered smart, and hoarding every available benefit is considered wise, Peter Obi is clearly extraterrestrial. He doesn’t belong here.
That is an enormous burden for anyone to bear. It is usually much easier to conform – however odious; to say, “Everyone is doing it.” It takes extraordinary inner strength to step away from the crowd (and pecuniary rewards) on grounds of higher principle. Especially a vociferous crowd like Nigeria. Here, even those closest to you expect you to conform so that “benefits” can trickle down.
So, Obi is an affront to the negative values that rule Nigeria today. He confronts our consciences with virtue as sharp as a sword. He is a mirror that reflects our moral ugliness. Oh, how we hate to look into that mirror!
Those who think that Peter Obi only upsets the old Northern political establishment or the new locusts that chant Emi Lokan and “On your Mandate” are in error. The man upsets his Oriental brothers even more. He makes commoners sneer at those who have long pretended to be their leaders. He makes “leaders” look small. Coming from the same cultural vicinity makes it hurt even more. It’s like being told in school: “So, you’re from the same parents as the valedictorian; how come you’re so different?”
That is why those who acknowledge Obi’s overwhelming superiority over others currently vying for the Nigerian presidency, but fear that “he is Igbo,” will do well to think again. In spirit and in truth, Obi is not one inch closer to Hope Uzodimma, Chris Ngige or Charles Soludo than he is to Nasir El Rufai, Atiku Abubakar or Bola Tinubu. Obi defies logic, ethnicity, religion, region and every other classification – for all the right reasons. Obi is an enigma. Ask his kinsmen in Agulu and those who once served with him.
I suspect that God has deliberately hidden the key to Nigeria’s greatness among the Igbo – a people so unjustly victimized. Not because they are special or better than anyone else, but because of what they have historically come to represent. So, to get what we all fervently want, Nigeria must first confront her biggest demon. She must swallow the bitter pill. She must accept help from the hands she so unjustly wronged and rejected, or perish. She must atone for her sins. Not just against the Igbo as an ethnicity, but against all the other unjustly treated groups whom the word “Igbo” now symbolizes. And against the values we have long perverted.
Peter Obi and other Nigerian politicians remind me of the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers. They carefully hid their sin, but nothing is hidden from the eyes of the Almighty. There was neither peace nor joy until they came clean with their iniquity. It is a spiritual law which no individual or nation can escape. The clock is ticking. The choice is ours.
