Dino dedicated the early part of the video to acknowledging Peter Obi’s exceptional qualities and admitting to him being the best amongst the candidates vying for the office of Nigeria’s president in 2023. Then, he goes down-hill in a rare display of self contradiction. According to him, despite being the best, Peter Obi cannot be president of Nigeria. His reason: Peter is Igbo. Really?
By his reasoning, only his principal Alhaji Atiku Abubakar can unify the country. What Dino fails to explain is how a man from the same ethnic group accused of masterminding the present insecurity in the country can foster genuine unity in a nation where many, rightly or wrongly, believe that his mission as president in 2023 is to perpetuate the status quo. Evidently, Dino and his fellow opportunistic politicians are caught in a dilemma of choice between patriotism and self interest.
Obi’s outstanding brilliance is the wind that has exposed the fowl’s rump. A number of politicians hitherto thought to be nationalists are obsessed with prejudice and in their futile attempt to shoot him down, inadvertently shoot themselves on the leg. Thus, in the absence of tangible negatives to hold against him, they resort to playing the nativity card and in the process expose their true nature.
Dino and a few others, in their frustration due to their inability to shield the light that Obi represents have chosen the part of preposterous analyses. There is discernible bias and attempt at demarketing every piece of information disseminated by these fellows who hitherto had fraudulently paraded themselves as progressive-minded Nigerians. Alas, how wrong! Listen to Dino’s inverted logic in the said video clip and you begin to feel sorry for Nigeria’s political leadership.
He appears dumbfounded at the followership Obi’s campaign elicits amongst Nigerians and amazed that there is no other presidential candidate that has generated this level of passionate followership among the youths and suffering masses – Something akin to the 1993 Chief MKO Abiola’s movement. Thus, before the contest, Obi has already bagged an honour, which probably explains why his traducers chose to adopt antiquated ethnic sentiments in an attempt to deflate his support base. This will fail.
Nigeria has never had a presidential candidate that has so boldly and without equivocation criticised the leadership of Nigeria and the political elite like Obi. His interviews and interaction sessions stand apart. Musa Yar’Adua’s interaction with the press comes close but never as engaging with declarations of personal accomplishments interlacing the parlays. For the first time, Nigerian politics at the presidential level is blessed with content and issue-based politicking, courtesy Obi. His engagements are simply phenomenal.
It’s not too late for Dino and his likes to eschew selfishness and join the Obi movement and Labour Party to rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of political buccaneers.
High Chief Ubandilogu Nwaokoma.
