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The title of today’s article was partly inspired by the legendary Nigerian Reggae musician, Ras Kimono’s song, “Kimono Dem Want”, contained in his debut solo album, ‘Under Pressure’, released in 1989. The title was also inspired by the grand design through the courts to ensure that Peter Obi and indeed Atiku Abubakar, both presidential hopefuls of the NDC and the ADC, respectively, are not on the ballot for the 2027 presidential election. The song in question is also known as “Kimono De Want”, “Rastafari Chant”, or “Kimono Dem Want.” Another title for the article would have been “Peter Obi Dem Want” in line with Kimono’s Pidgin English idiolect.
When Ras Kimono released the “Under Pressure” album in 1989, Nigeria was indeed under pressure and there was no food to eat and even no water to drink. Everywhere, Nigerians were under pressure, whether in the ghetto or in the city, some people were crying, while others were weeping and mourning their state of deprivation.
Almost 37 years later, Nigerians are still under pressure. People are still searching for food to eat, water to drink and where to sleep. There is accommodation pressure, job pressure, political and democracy pressure. Many people are now weeping, crying and wailing at the same time because of excruciating economic hardship caused by naira devaluation and other anti-people policies of this administration. Many Nigerians don’t have money in their pocket to buy essential needs like food and drugs. Many Nigerian youths have no future due to mass unemployment.
Therefore, the grand design by the powers that be to prevent opposition candidates to be on the ballot in 2027 is real. It is no longer a fiction. The engineered crises in some of the opposition political parties are part of the scheme to ensure that Peter Obi and other opposition presidential hopefuls are not on the ballot. That can explain the perpetual crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, ADC and NDC. Any party Peter Obi goes to, the schemers will plant saboteurs to engineer unending crises in them to keep him busy with intractable court cases.
While some judges are daily using legal instruments to deregister the NDC and the ADC just because of one individual, much harm is being done to our nascent democracy by that undemocratic move. The judiciary should watch it. They should not be a willing tool in the hands of those in power to derail this democracy simply because of one man. Why must some people or even some politicians think of preventing Peter Obi or Atiku Abubakar from being on the ballot?
What should they gain from such undemocratic practice? Those who want to prevent Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar from being on the ballot don’t mean well for the country and this fledgling democracy. They are not patriots. They are not even democrats. They don’t love our multi-party democracy which our founding fathers used as a yardstick for our independence and union. Our extant laws support multi-party democracy. We don’t know where this idea of one-party state is coming from. The unfolding drama of one-party state will extinguish the nascent democracy. It will also destroy our wobbling edifice.
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When Nigeria is suffering from intractable insecurity, food insecurity, hunger and abject poverty, our politicians, especially those in the ruling APC should be thinking the reason we have a government in the first place and not how to make Nigeria a one-party state and win all the elections in the land. Winning polls at all costs does not amount to winning the people and peace. One can win electoral victory without winning the peace. The ‘do or die’ approach to politics, especially election will dwarf this African giant.
The leaders of APC should remember when they were in the opposition and how they came to power. If the then PDP leaders were as desperate and vicious as they are now, they won’t get there. Those who live in glass house should not throw stones. It is sad and also tragic that our leaders/politicians hardly learn any lesson. They learn nothing and forget nothing. They are always obsessed with power and power and nothing else matters to them except power. What is power without morality? What is power without safeguards for its abuse?
What is power when the masses have no food to eat and no water to drink and even no money to buy akara and kulikuli? What is power when the universities are poorly funded and ill-equipped? What is power when NYSC camps are not even fit for human habitation? What is power when Nigerians have no potable water and access to toilets? We don’t understand why the so-called democrats want to torpedo this democracy.
We don’t know why they want Peter Obi out of ballot. Did Peter Obi eat their breakfast or lunch? What did Peter Obi do to them that they want to scheme him out of the 2027 contest? Why are they doing this? They should remember that there is God. Our father in heaven sees everything. Those of you who are Christians should not mock God. Those of you in power today should never assume the power of God.
You should not play God as we move towards the 2027 elections. The judges in Abuja and Lokoja are you reading and listening to this gospel? Is the NJC watching the drama over deregistration of ADC and NDC? Are the patriots watching with hands akimbo too? Is the judiciary still the last hope of the common man? Is INEC watching as well?
Why should Peter Obi’s right to political participation be halted by the courts? Why must his political ambition be truncated through judicial ambush and legal gymnastics? Can someone proffer honest answers to these questions? We enjoin those orchestrating this “Peter Obi Dem Want” political praxis to desist from it. There is no gain in preventing Peter Obi from being on the ballot. In fact, allowing Obi and Atiku to be on the ballot will enhance the credibility of the 2027 election. Enough is enough.
