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The other day, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo made a surprising statement. He claimed on a nationally broadcast TV interview that Mr Peter Obi, his predecessor in office (a) made a particular investment which current value is worth “less than nothing.” He was referring to the investment in SABMiller, the South African brewery.
As people digested this surprising information, he again detonated another series of bombs. The summary of the latest tirade was that (b) Peter Obi was not a good state administrator and (c) he is an Igbo candidate who refused his plea to run under APGA, the party Obi dumped in 2016 or thereabouts.
Taken together, these three claims expectedly created a buzz on cyberspace, not least because they were controversial, if not downright false. The public sphere lit up with outrage, glee, and impassioned debates about what could have got the professor’s goat for him to lash out with unrestrained ferocity.
There are at least two ways to look at what is happening between Peter Obi and Charles Soludo in the run up to the 2023 general elections.
One way is to revisit what I like to call ‘the grudge of 2010.’ Everything happening now points to a grudge that Gov Soludo nursed against three persons that he believes mistreated him in 2010. This was the year that he first ran for governor and lost to Mr. Peter Obi. Soludo was standard bearer for the PDP going into the election. He finished a disappointing third place, behind the winner, Peter Obi, with Chris Ngige in second place. Today, even though a benevolent spirit intervened to crack his coconut and enable him realize his ambition, he appears implacable, unyielding, unforgiving. It seems that he will take no prisoners whenever issue of political profit for his trio of traducers crops up.
The people he apparently resents for his failure include former President Goodluck Jonathan, late Prof. Dora Akunyili, and Gov. Peter Obi. I had written extensively on Soludo’s battles with Peter Obi and President Jonathan after he was defeated in his second governorship run in 2014. However, this 2010 defeat ruptured his relationship with Dora Akunyili and her elder sister who was Soludo’s mother-in-law.
According to Akunyili, Soludo managed to persuade her sister that she (Dora) was responsible for his loss. Soludo, she said, wanted her to use her influence as a Minister to persuade President Yar’Adua to back his campaign. Although Soludo denied the allegation, he however admitted that Dora did not support him because she secretly nursed ambition to be the governor herself!
Soludo’s grudge against his sister in law followed Dora to her grave. Where was the truth? Not many people know, including this writer. It began with Soludo jumping from PDP to APGA in a bid to succeed Obi. But he was deftly knocked out even before the primaries held. Soludo was convinced that Obi and Jonathan were prime architects of his fall. This may explain why, a year later (2015), he seized the opportunity to exact a revenge against Jonathan. And he grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he teamed up with General Buhari to whip Jonathan silly at the polls. Of the trio of traducers, therefore, Obi is the last foe standing. Could this explain the tirades we have seen of late?
A second way to look at Soludo’s letter to his countrymen, to paraphrase late Tony Momoh, can be appreciated from the onerous task that Peter Obi set for himself. This is the battle to dislodge the old guard that has had over half a century of experience in fighting political battles. Governor Chukwuma Soludo is a protégée of this old guard. It is therefore no surprise that he teamed up with them for a violent pushback against Obi and children of change.
In June 2022, I wagered that no one knew what would happen in the days and months leading to the February 2023 vote. As I put it then:
“Naija Republic voters (the youths) should note that millions of Nigerian voters support the old guard, including young people like themselves. This support cuts across ethnic regions. (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar) will secure millions of votes in Southeast and Southwest, just as (Bola Tinubu) will make inroads into the Southeast and the North. Supporters of the old guard are also better prepared. They have registered and collected their PVCs long before now. And they have the willingness to step out and the patience to wait and vote on election day. They are also better motivated because their flag bearers come with deep pockets and are not afraid to offer inducements.”
I concluded that essay thusly: “Before long, the old guard will launch blistering intellectual and media firepower to blow away hapless citizens of Naija Republic (the youths). Their methods are usually unorthodox, amoral, and amazingly effective, as we saw in 2015 and 2019. For instance, their social media army will … provoke massive ethnic fears around Peter Obi. They will wear the youths down. Will the usually impatient youths withstand the media saturation bombing? Will they maintain a stoic patience and remain focused long enough to ride the wave that will splash across their beloved social media shores? These are matters that anyone who wants to vote for a (youth) candidate … must constantly keep in mind as D-Day approaches.
The D-Day is here and the onslaught has begun. As the days go by, it will sometimes look as if Peter Obi bit more than he can chew in his current quest to become President. And we can expect many more Soludos to join the allied forces on the propaganda blitz. They are contending with opponents that are armed with well-oiled structures and well-heeled fortifications for State capture.
The King Kongs among us are loaded with cash and are desperate. And they are set to blow Peter away. Only the youths of Nigeria can save Obi. The youths will succeed if only they realize that this is a battle to the finish.
The battle is half won. Majority of township youths will most likely vote for change. However, majority of youths who vote reside in rural areas and are yet to be sensitized enough to understand what is at stake. Success will therefore depend on the ability of OBIdients to close this gap between now and February 2023.
The biggest loophole, from what I see thus far, is the ability to persuade the youth in rural areas to connect to the township youth vision and values driving the movement. A second hurdle is the ability to successfully review and challenge INEC’s large-scale voidance of youth voter registrations.
Is there a department of the Obi-Datti campaign in charge of PVC mobilization, helping those who registered to collect their PVCs?
All in all, the battle is only beginning. A lot can change in two months to decide whether the youths will prevail or it will all come down to business as usual. Which will suit King Kong just right.
