On Peter Obi: A letter to my friends who lost their cool

The day Nigeria marked her 56th Independence Anniversary; Pastor Poju Oyemade of Covenant Christian Centre gave us a real treat on The Platform. It was a good moment to reflect on the ordeals and trajectories of our nation. Pastor Oyemade assembled a coterie of highly cerebral speakers who seasoned the event. Ever since that day, an eccentric kind of feeling has filled the air, and the social media is awash with certain impetuous hash tags. 

My people, for days now, I have searched for the appropriate (not necessarily convenient) way to express my misgivings over your insensitivity and misguided reactions to issues that matter.

This is not how to go when you find your missing gem. No, not when the enemy is everywhere around you. It is okay to feel a surge of emotions running through your head. But, you do not have to lose your cool. This time you did not just lose your cool, you went wild, mad. 

At The Platform, ex-governor Peter Obi, served you with a rather dramatic, strikingly astonishing revelation of your time. It was something unusual. Yes, you did not expect a Nigerian politician to be that open, true, plain and concerned.  But you knew he was. You saw it. He was passionate. Many did not know or hear much about him while he served as the governor of the south-eastern state of Anambra. At The Platform, you began to believe he is the missing puzzle that Nigeria needs to cross over to the other side. And in an unbridled frenzy, you lost your cool, went delirious and stormed the social media with the hash tag #PeterObi2019.

And that is your undoing.

In that singular act, you are like the highly pretentious man who finds a woman he treasures for marriage, and the minute after the first date floods Facebook and Twitter and other social media with pictures of their adventure. If she is cool, keep her. Don’t lose your cool. There is nothing wrong with expressing your frantic desire to have Mr. Obi as your president. But everything is wrong with the way you lose your cool about the man you want to be your leader, the man you want to wield the staff to strike the red sea for your passage, leaving your “enemies” consumed behind you. 

The excitement, inspiration, and revelations that came with the experience at The Platform were – and will continue to be – a reason for hope in Nigeria. But in your unguarded euphoria I also found a reason to despair.

I am sorry, but I feel obligated to tell you, that there is something fundamentally wrong with you if you do not understand the meaning of the word “caution”; if you cannot apply it in making decisions about people, and more importantly, someone you want to lead. 

You must apply a great deal of restraint. If you love what you now know about Mr. Peter Obi or anyone for that matter, be calm. And while you wait for the right time, there are few things you can do: Look. Look again. Think. Think again. Ask questions. Seek answers for your questions. Make insightful decisions. This is important because many believe you are where you are because you failed to think well and ask pertinent questions when the ruling APC, then in opposition consistently beclouded your thought with the “change” mantra. You got too emotional. They told you how the PDP government plundered our common till and their “willingness” to fight corruption and rescue you from their rickety umbrella that no longer covers you. They told you they have come to change things and that is why they deserve your vote. You went haywire when you heard “change” and wielded brooms, and in your fawning character – inspired by the exigency for “stomach infrastructure” – you joined them. And this is where you are. Reality. “Change begins with you” they tell you. And now you ask if you were hypnotised.  No, you were not. You simply lost your cool when it mattered most. You believed in President Buhari’s “indubitable” integrity (okay, some of you), and saddened by the then president Jonathan’s supposed weakness and PDP’s galloping pace of corruption and impunity you jumped at a “change” bait. You did not think or ask questions. And you landed in recession. You have forgotten all these. Now you are confused. Amnesia.

Ex-governor Peter Obi spoke well at The Platform. It was something you wanted to hear more on the nation’s day of anniversary than your president’s unimpressive attempt at convincing you that all will be well. But even if Mr. Obi is the messiah to come, he needs more of your prayers and cooperation than your penchant for hash tag that kills a dream before it births.

Let me remind you that the greatest power of any nation lies in the critical thinking ability of the citizens. More so, in a democratic regime, as elementary Government teaches, power belongs to the people. But what happens when a people trade their prerogative, and play sheepishly into the hands of the enemy and so relinquishes their power? What happens when a people lose their ability to keep elected leaders under check by failing to ask pertinent questions when it matters? It is a tragedy. 

Successive Nigerian governments and leaders have failed to be accountable. That is not even the sad story, it is that the people whom the government ought to be responsible to have disappointingly failed in their own responsibility of stirring them to action. The developed countries, the ones you call “first world” are where they are today because the citizens, through active participation in government and electoral processes overthrew the elites who controlled power to their own advantage, and created a society where political right became broadly distributed, and were able to make government responsive to their needs. 

Nigeria’s situation on the other hand, sadly, is a sham, a charade. My friends, you need to change, not just the government. Maybe they are right when they say “change begins with you”. There is a popular narrative among Nigerians, that our most terrifying dilemma is leadership failure. That may be true. But we must examine the other side of the coin too. Nigeria’s problem is equally, or probably more of a botch in the way we follow. Follower-ship in itself is a function of leadership. Unfortunately, successive government and leaders have left the country with a repressive system that only emasculates the people’s creative and critical thinking ability.

So, next time a politician shows up in front of you, be sure not to lose your cool. Listen to him, but think before you act.