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Think for a moment: A manufacturer who places his label on a product. That label is more than a name; it’s a mark of ownership, reputation and identity. By putting his label on the product, the manufacturer is saying, “this is my workmanship. My product is not a product of chance”. In practical terms, if you want to get the best of any piece of equipment, the advice is, consult the manufacturer’s instruction manual. That’s who Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is.
Obi fits perfectly into the phenomenon called the “Happy Warrior”. The term comes from William Wordsworth’s 1806 poem, “Character of the Happy Warrior”, which in political parlance is used to describe a politician who fights intense political battles with a positive attitude and grace rather than bitterness. Obi’s remarkable story, from business and politics, captures a moral, brave, undaunted, and cheerful person while facing difficulties, conflict or adversity. He has always turned hardship into a noble cause. He finds purpose and steady resolve in a struggle rather than expecting an easy life.
Are you then surprised why Obi is not your usual politician -those who, when politics pays their bills, truth becomes their enemy. Convictions, rooted in a noble causes drive Obi’s political pursuit. Perhaps more than any national figure or presidential candidate, Obi brings ennobling values unlike others who come with transactional mindset. Also, more than anyone else, Obi has defined public agenda for the present presidential campaign. He has repeatedly argued – articulately and emphatically – the need to cut the size, scope and spending of government.
The borrowing spree that has become Tinubu’s hallmark disturbs Obi because of the unpleasant consequences, particularly when there is nothing to show for the borrowing binge. No area of our national life – security, economy, health, education, and many more – that Obi has not provided a blueprint, a roadmap that should make Nigeria better rather than the terrible hole that Tinubu’s sorrowful and tortious presidency has put Nigeria into, leaving millions of the citizens in extreme poverty.
You should then not be surprised why Obi has become the target of coordinated attacks by the presidency and its surrogates. These ‘yes men’, sycophants are aware that the easiest way to cozy up to, grovel and tremble before President Bola Tinubu, especially in this election season is to attack Peter Obi, relentlessly. But the man remains who he is – the happy warrior – undaunted and focused on the big prize – how to rescue Nigeria and give it back to the people. He is fully aware that the presidency is a duty to be done, not a prize to be won.
Recently, two ex-classmates of mine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, were involved in a hearty conversation, using Obi as a Unique Selling Point. They asked the question: “have you ever seen people throw stones on a harvest mango fruits from a barren mango tree?”. Obi stands out, they said. That’s why any Nigerian politician who carries a baggage must attack Peter Obi to become relevant in the eyes of the president. For want of a . better description, let’s call all the Obi’s traducers as Soludo’s gang. In the gang includes two small men of average height – Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike, a talkative and a tackler.
Sadly, the latest entry to the gang is a ‘gentleman’ Gov Peter Mbah of Enugu state. This is a man who has earned my respect for his good works in Enugu state. Maybe, not anymore. This followed repeated attacks on NDC supporters in the state. Recently, Cubana Chief Priest(Real name Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu) described Umahi as the “second worst minister ever from the South East”. I am inclined to believe that Umahi is a narcissist. A normal person apologizes when he hurts you, but a narcissist blames you when he feels hurt. Umahi says “Obi is not better” than him.
Did Obi ever say he was in competition with Umahi? A happy warrior chooses his fights carefully. The problem with Umahi is that of man haunted by his past. It’s complex issue when a man is looking for relevance. Umahi’s humiliation at Ranch Bees stadium, Kaduna, during the official kickoff of the APC presidential campaign on October 24, speaks volumes of how low the party machinery takes him. The Soludo gang is still ‘recruiting’ people, especially from the South East who are ready to sell their soul. The desperation is understandable. Obi is considered by the presidency as posing the most formidable obstacle to Tinubu’s re-election bid.
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Survey after survey points in that direction, that Obi/Kwankwaso ticket is the preferred choice of the electorate in a free and credible presidential poll scheduled for January 16, 2027. Gov Soludo was chosen to lead the gang for obvious reasons. He is a “Judas Goat”. You may ask why? Obi is Soludo’s ‘occupational disease’. His obsession of Obi’s presidential ambition drives him crazy- no sleep, a nightmare of some sort. It’s about when people you trust betray you. Perry Stone, one America’s renowned evangelists, captures the role of Gov Soludo in his best-selling book, titled: “The Judas Goat”.
You see, betrayal by enemies is expected, but when it comes from people you consider as family members and friends, it can be devastating. That’s what the Soludo’s gang is doing against Peter Obi. In that regard, Perry Stone uses the intriguing example of a Judas Goat as an actual goat that is raised with the sheep in the field – eating with them, sleeping with them, and generally gaining their trust. That’s how close Peter Obi and Soludo were until politics divided them.
The first ‘assignment’ given to Soludo by his ‘masters’ was to rummage through the files of state and find any wrongdoing by Obi when he was the governor of Anambra state. Time was ticking. In August, Soludo came up with a phantom debt of $123.7 million allegedly incurred by Obi, and unpaid salaries. Obi refuted all the allegations, stating that on the contrary, he left $150 million in the state’s treasury. As former minister of finance, and current Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said few years ago, “there is definitely a character issue with Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo in his desperation for power and relevance in Nigeria”.
Truth is, Soludo suffers from the “smartest kid-in-the class syndrome”. It’s a psychological problem that comes with a pattern of overconfidence, arrogance, and ego. Such people eventually fail from grace, stumbling publicly when faced with a challenge that requires actual depth, humility, or resilience rather than surface-level flexing. The Judas Goat, therefore, makes a strong correlation between this goat and the people in your life who, in the words of Perry Stone, “are operating with ulterior motives”.
To serve their own selfish interests or those they are working for, when the time comes to lead the sheep into the slaughterhouse, the sheep will follow the Judas goat into specially marked pens, the back of trucks, and in some instances into the slaughterhouse itself. And you may ask, why are South East governors being used as potential Judas goats and “City Boys’ Movement” for President Tinubu’s desperate re-election campaign?
The troubling case of Soludo was recently elucidated by Dr Chidi Amuta, a prolific newspaper columnist and academic. In the piece entitled is: “Soludo: He bowed, trembled and prostrated”, Amuta argues that “Soludo is right to greet the president or anyone in any pose – standing, bent over, kneeling, bowing, bent double in order to adequately convey his obeisance or political mendacity. He could strp naked if that would help his cause and impress his masters”.
According to Amuta, Soludo’s servile conduct, approximates to a typical “Biafra-era saboteur”. It’s a betrayal, he said. In his words, Soludo “has sold the soul of the illustrious APGA machinery bequeathed by the late Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu to the Tinubu APC. His trophy is a membership of the presidential campaign council of the ruling party…” This is not going to move Soludo or any member of the gang against Peter Obi. It’s so because, for them, shame has become a passé – nothing to be ashamed of. Moreover, they fail to realise that there’s life after politics. It’s a lesson our politicians have failed to learn from.
