Because this a country where corruption has become an industry, the most lucrative industry in Nigeria indeed. A nation where those who benefit from the decay of the system are the ones controlling the system.
A country where those who profit from darkness are the ones holding the switch to the light.
Because the problem is not Peter Obi.
The problem is Nigeria and the politicians and their power brokers that feed fat from the corruption and other evils deep in Nigeria and systems of governance and States management.
Let me explain.
Nigeria today is like a marketplace where many traders have been selling fake drugs for years. Suddenly one honest pharmacist arrives who wants to clean the market.
What do you think the fake drug sellers will do?
They will not welcome him.
They will not clap for him.
They will not say thank you.
They will fight him with everything they have.
Because if honesty enters the market, their own business dies.
That is why it would be difficult for Peter Gregory Obi to succeed in his spirited efforts to be President of this Nigeria.
Not because he is not qualified.
But because he is dangerous to corruption.
Dangerous to waste.
Dangerous to political profiteers.
Dangerous to the entire industry of national looting, political profiteering, nepotism and avarice.
And when a man becomes dangerous to a corrupt system, the system begins to panic.
Let us look carefully at what has been happening in Nigeria.
Everywhere you turn today, Obi is the topic.
Government spokesmen wake up every morning thinking about Obi.
Party loyalists go on television talking about Obi.
Social media attack dogs spend their entire day discussing Obi.
If Obi sneezes in Onitsha, somebody in Abuja will hold a press conference.
If Obi visits a school, somebody will write an angry column.
If Obi greets a market woman, television panels will debate it for two hours.
Now think about it.
Why?
Why is Obi giving them sleepless nights?
Why is a man who is not in government causing so much anxiety in government?
There is a proverb that says when the goats begin to shout too loudly, check the grass they have eaten.
Something is disturbing them.
Let us call some names since many people are afraid to do so.
Every time you turn on the television, somebody is attacking Obi.
You will see people like Daniel Bwala going from one station to another explaining why Obi is the problem of Nigeria.
You will see political loyalists defending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by attacking Obi morning, afternoon and night.
You will see people twisting every statement Obi makes.
You will see people inventing narratives about Obi.
And you will ask yourself one simple question.
Why?
If Obi is irrelevant, why the panic?
If Obi is politically finished, why the fear?
If Obi is not a threat, why the daily propaganda?
In our villages there is a saying.
Nobody fights a dead snake.
If they are still beating the bush, it means something inside the bush is alive.
And that thing inside the bush is the idea that Nigeria can actually work.
Peter Obi has become a symbol of that possibility.
That is why he is a problem to many politicians in Nigeria today.
Not because he is perfect.
Not because he is a saint.
But because he represents something dangerous to the current political order.
Accountability.
And accountability is the worst enemy of corruption.
Let us look at it clearly.
For decades Nigeria has been run like a private estate.
Public money disappears without explanation.
Budgets are announced but development never appears.
Projects are commissioned only on television.
Convoys grow longer while citizens grow poorer.
Politicians become billionaires while the nation becomes poorer.
In such a system, the most important qualification for leadership is not competence but connections and ability to steal and grandstand and dare the consequences.
It is loyalty to the system.
Do not disturb the arrangement.
Do not question the spending and stealing and wastes going on because they have invested and must recover their investment in politics.
Do not ask where the money went.
Do not open the books.
Do not shine light into dark political and administrative corners.
Once you obey those rules, the system will embrace you and promote you and reward you accordingly
But the moment you begin to talk about prudence, accountability and transparency, the system will label you dangerous and deal with you and remove you from their midst immediately.
And that is exactly where Peter Gregory Obi entered the picture.
For years he spoke about cutting the cost of governance.
For years he spoke about investing in production.
For years he spoke about redirecting resources into education and healthcare.
For years he spoke about leaders living within reasonable limits and be accountable to the people.
In any normal country, those statements would sound ordinary and easily be embraced and accepted but not in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, they sound revolutionary.
Because Nigeria has normalized the abnormal and feeling very afraid to rethink and reverse the ugly trend, and because a lot of people in high places are involved.
The abnormal has become normal and Nigerians are just tolerating, suffering, complaining and crying, and just getting by because of lack of any alternative, and any hope for a change because there is no more hope.
Waste is normal in Nigeria.
Corruption is normal in Nigeria.
Impunity is normal in Nigeria.
So when somebody begins to talk about discipline, it sounds like a threat to the whole system that has endured for long, and accepted as normal.
Let me give a simple illustration.
Imagine a house where everybody has been stealing from the kitchen for twenty years.
Every day somebody removes rice.
Every day somebody takes meat.
Every day somebody pockets the cooking money.
Nobody complains because everybody is benefiting from the arrangement.
Then suddenly one new member of the house says something simple.
Let us keep records of everything we buy.
Immediately the house will erupt in complaints and opposition.
Why?
Because records will expose the thieves.
That is exactly the Peter Gregory Obi problem in Nigeria politics now.
He represents record keeping.
He represents scrutiny.
He represents the uncomfortable possibility that public money may actually be tracked and accounted for.
And many people cannot survive in such an environment where accountability, probity, fear of God and transparency in government and governance are expected and encouraged.
So the attacks begin and would not cease because many people’s evil enterprises and schemes are about to suffer because of the new sheriff in Town/Nigeria.
The propaganda begins.
The character assassination begins.
They will say he is stingy, wicked, not visionary and development oriented enough.
They will say he is desperate.
They will say he is tribal.
They will say he is inexperienced.
They will say anything that can weaken the symbol and what he stands for over the years that have won him recognition and awards abroad and from world development agencies that are forthright.
But deep down, the fear remains.
Because ideas cannot easily be destroyed.
Peter Obi has become an idea.
And ideas are stubborn things.
Look at what happened during the last election cycle.
A political movement emerged from ordinary citizens.
Young people began to discuss governance seriously.
Students began to ask questions about budgets.
Market women began to talk about debt.
People who had never attended political meetings before suddenly became politically conscious.
That frightened the establishment at ever level in Nigeria.
Because once citizens become aware, manipulation becomes difficult because it woll be very difficult to recruit and influence collaborators in crime and corruption in such a situation.
One old man in my village once said something very profound.
He said the day a blind man begins to see, many thieves will run away.
That is what happened.
Many Nigerians began to see ,and are now seeing, reading things and asking questions. Many are now busy, current and active in the social media.
And the reaction from the political class was immediate.
Fear.
Panic.
Aggression.
That is why every Obi visit creates anxiety and counter response just to prevent a repeat.
When he visits a school, they wonder what message he will deliver.
When he visits a hospital, they wonder what questions he will ask.
When he visits a disaster site, they worry about the attention he will attract.
Because every visit reminds Nigerians of something uncomfortable in their lives and communities.
Leadership can actually be different and people see it once it appears.
And that thought is dangerous to a corrupt system.
Let us talk plainly.
Many Nigerian politicians are not afraid of opposition.
They are afraid of examples that are better than their own performance and position and aspiration.
Opposition can be insulted.
Opposition can be ignored.
Opposition can be suppressed.
But good example cannot easily be destroyed. It stands out easily especially in a rotten system that Nigeria represents now.
Good example exposes hypocrisy.
Good example raises standards and shows a better difference from what has been.
Good example forces comparison and provides options.
If one leader flies private jets everywhere while another travels modestly, citizens will compare.
If one leader speaks carefully about public spending while another celebrates extravagance, citizens will compare.
If one leader answers questions directly while another hides behind spokespersons, citizens will compare.
Comparison is uncomfortable for those who benefit from wastes and corruption and political patronage and excessive systems that favour mediocrity against excellence.
So they prefer noise.
They prefer propaganda.
They prefer confusion.
Anything that distracts the public from comparison.
But Nigerians are no longer foolish, although they have been fooled all along.
The average Nigerian may be struggling economically, but he understands hypocrisy and lies when he sees them.
He knows when politicians are afraid.
And today many powerful people are afraid.
Because Obi represents something they cannot easily control and handle.
Authenticity.
Now let us enter small pidgin so everybody go understand.
My people, make we talk truth.
The wahala wey Obi carry no be ordinary wahala.
E be like person wey enter dark room come carry torchlight.
All the rats and cockroaches wey dey inside go begin run.
Na wetin dey happen for Nigeria now.
Obi carry torchlight.
Many people no like that light at all.
Because if light shine well well, many things go show.
Contracts wey dem inflate go show.
Money wey disappear go show.
Lifestyle wey no match salary go show.
So the easiest thing na to attack the man holding the light.
But light no dey fear noise.
Light na light.
Another proverb says something powerful.
When a clean river enters a dirty swamp, the swamp becomes disturbed.
Not because the river is violent.
But because the river is pure.
That disturbance is what we are seeing in Nigeria today.
The political class is disturbed.
They are restless.
They are defensive.
They are aggressive.
Because somewhere deep inside they know something they do not want ordinary people to know.
If Nigeria ever truly embraces accountability, many political careers will end.
And that is why some people keep saying Obi cannot be President.
Not because Nigerians do not want change.
But because the system is designed to resist change.
However, history teaches us something important.
Systems eventually collapse under the weight of their own contradictions.
A corrupt system can survive for many years.
But it cannot survive forever.
At some point the pressure from citizens becomes too strong for the bad system to withstand.
At some point the demand for accountability becomes too loud, and many times followed by violence and open opposition by the people.
At some point a new generation refuses to accept the old rules.
And when that moment comes, the impossible becomes possible.
So, let us try and understand what Peter Gregory Obi is facing in Nigeria now in the efforts he is making to ve elected President of Nigeria, and see how we can help him from our various ends. Because if he succeeds we will be better off than what we have now.
But if Nigeria itself changes, everything becomes possible.
Because the real battle is not Obi versus politicians.
The real battle is Nigeria versus corruption and the politicians that cause it.
The real battle is citizens versus impunity.
The real battle is truth versus propaganda.
And that battle is still unfolding. So, where do you come in as a citizen?
One thing is certain.
The louder the attacks become, the clearer the fear becomes.
And fear is always a signal.
It tells you something important is happening.
Today Peter Obi is the greatest nightmare of corruption.
Not because he holds power.
But because he challenges the comfort of those who hold power.
And until Nigeria decides whether it prefers comfort or progress, the debate will continue.
But one thing nobody can deny.
The conversation has changed.
And once a nation begins to question its habits, transformation becomes only a matter of time.
So, please help to make this positive changes possible by supporting Mr. Peter Gregory Obi’s efforts to be President of Nigeria so that we will live happily here and hereafter instead of what obtains now in Nigeria.
